MINNESOTA
HOUSE DISTRICT 7B: SIMONSON RE-ELECTED
Rep. Erik Simonson, a 46-year-old Duluth assistant fire chief, handily won re-election to his second term Tuesday, defeating his Republican challenger, Travis Silvers, a 34-year-old building contractor and entrepreneur also from western Duluth. Simonson received 71 percent of the vote, compared with Silver’s 29 percent.
“I was hopeful voters would believe Minnesota is on the right track, and I’ll be carrying that message forward,” Simonson said.
But he acknowledged that the ability of the DFL to meaningfully advance its agenda will depend largely on the party’s ability to retain control of the House.
Simonson said his top two priorities moving into a second term in the Legislature will be to pass a transportation bill that addresses the state’s deteriorating roads and bridges and to push for greater economic development opportunities in nonmetro Minnesota by supporting initiatives such as increasing access to broadband data services.
Tuesday night marked the second time in two years the pair of candidates had faced each other. In 2012, Simonson received 62 percent of the vote to Silver’s 22 percent. A write-in candidate, 5th District Duluth City Councilor Jay Fosle, garnered 16 percent of the vote that same year.
HOUSE DISTRICT 3A: DILL TOPS CHALLENGER JOHNSON
Incumbent DFLer David Dill defeated Republican challenger Eric Johnson by a 66 percent to 34 percent margin with all precincts reporting Wednesday morning.
The district covers all of Koochiching, northern and eastern St. Louis County and all of Lake and Cook counties.
Dill, 59, who owns homes in Crane Lake and south of International Falls, was first elected to the state House in 2002. He’s a commercial pilot and owns a fishing and hunting lodge in Ontario.
Johnson, a life-long resident of the region, owns International Dental Arts Inc. in International Falls that manufactures dental appliances for dentists across Minnesota and beyond.
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HOUSE DISTRICT 3B: MURPHY RE-ELECTED
Mary Murphy is third on the list when it comes to years served in the Minnesota House of Representatives and will add to her service after a win over Republican challenger Wade Fremling in District 5B. She had 62 percent of the vote to Fremling’s 38 percent with all precincts reporting early Wednesday.
Murphy, a Democrat, was first elected in 1976. The 74-year-old lives in Hermantown in a district that winds its way up the North Shore to include parts of Two Harbors. Fremling is from Saginaw.
HOUSE DISTRICT 5B: SLOW REPORTING FROM PRECINCTS
Incumbent DFLer Tom Anzelc of Balsam Township appears to have defeated Republican challenger Justin Eichorn of Grand Rapids, though as of 9:30 a.m. Wednesday only 46 of 56 precincts had reported. Anzelc led 57 percent to 43 percent.
The district covers the Grand Rapids area and snakes southwest toward Remer, Backus and Pine River in Cass County.
Anzelc, 68, was first elected to the Legislature in 2006 and is a former labor organizer and Hibbing school district teacher. Eichorn, 30, works for his family’s store, Glen’s Army Navy in Grand Rapids.
HOUSE DISTRICT 6A: MELIN BESTS WEBER
Incumbent DFL Carly Melin easily topped Republican challenger Roger Weber for the district that covers eastern Itasca and western St. Louis counties.
Melin, 29, a Hibbing native and attorney, had 70 percent of the votes with Weber at 30 percent, with 85 percent of votes reported early Wednesday.
Melin won a special election held in February 2011 to fill the vacancy that arose after Representative Tony Sertich was appointed commissioner of the Iron Range Resources and Rehabilitation Board by Gov. Mark Dayton. She was re-elected in 2012, also defeating Weber in that race.
Weber, of rural Nashwauk, works as a heavy equipment mechanic serving the mining industry. He made news recently for facing a civil lawsuit over allegations that he sawed his neighbor’s garage in half in a family land dispute that boiled over.
HOUSE DISTRICT 6B: METSA TOPS MATASICH
Incumbent DFLer Jason Metsa of Virginia won another term with 64 percent of the votes and all precincts reporting early Wednesday.
His challenger was Republican Matt Matasich of Virginia. The district covers the core Iron Range and townships throughout central and south St. Louis County.
Metsa, 34, was first elected to the Legislature in 2012. He is a former organizer for the Northeast Area Labor Council. Matasich, 54, is a private investor and is a former Virginia City Councilor.
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HOUSE DISTRICT 11A: SUNDIN WINS
Incumbent Mike Sundin was challenged by Republican Tim Hafvenstein in District 11A and led with 64 percent of the vote with eight of 47 precincts reporting.
The district covers Carlton County and portions of St. Louis and Pine counties. Sundin, a Democrat from Esko, was first elected in 2012. He works as a consultant.
Hafvenstein lives in Cloquet and is a teacher.
WISCONSIN
SENATE DISTRICT 25: BEWLEY BEATS DEUTSCH
With only one precinct outstanding in Wisconsin’s 25th Senate District, Democrat Janet Bewley is heading back to Madison to represent northern Wisconsin.
Bewley, who currently represents the 74th Assembly District, garnered nearly 51 percent of the vote district wide in a narrow defeat over Republican Dane Deutsch of Rice Lake to fill the seat held for nearly three decades by Poplar Democrat Bob Jauch.
In Douglas County, voters handed Bewley about 61 percent of the vote to Deutsch’s 39 percent.
“At around 12:30 a.m., I got a call from Dane’s campaign manager graciously conceding defeat,” Bewley wrote in a brief emailed statement issued early Wednesday morning. “Thanks everyone for making democracy work.”
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ASSEMBLY 74TH DISTRICT: MEYERS HOLDS EDGE
In the race to replace Bewley in the state Assembly, Democrat Beth Meyers took the lead over Republican challenger Jamey Francis in the 74th District race. The Journal Sentinel reported that Meyers held a 59 percent-41 percent lead with 73 percent of the vote counted.
News Tribune reporters Peter Passi, John Myers, Jana Hollingsworth, Mike Creger and Andrew Krueger, and the Superior Telegram, contributed to this report.
