Minnesota’s voters have decided on candidates for this fall’s general election, as yesterday’s primary election whittled down the field in several races.

7th Congressional District: Michelle Fischbach will represent Republicans in the 7th Congressional District. Fischbach, the endorsed candidate, tallied 59% of the vote compared to Dave Hughes’ 22%. Hughes lost two close elections to DFLer Collin Peterson in 2016 and 2018. And speaking of Rep. Peterson, he will have a shot at an 11th straight term in Congress as he wins the DFL primary with 75% of the vote.

8th Congressional District: Incumbent Republican Pete Stauber wins the District 8 Congressional Republican primary easily with more than 93% of the vote.

5th Congressional District: In the hotly contested DFL Congressional District 5 primary, incumbent Ilhan Omar wins with 57% of the vote. Her closest opponent, Antone Melton-Meaux, received 39% of the vote.

US Senate: The US Senate Republican primary goes to Jason Lewis with 78% of the vote, while on the DFL side, incumbent Tina Smith wins with 87% of the vote.

State Senate District 9: No surprise in the State Senate District 9 primary as Senate Majority Leader Paul Gazelka wins with a little more than 83% of the vote. His opponent, Richard Dahl, received 16% of the vote.

State Senate District 10: Republican Carrie Ruud has won her primary in District 10 with a little more than 82% of the vote, with the other 17% going to Shaun Christian Hansen.

Bemidji Mayor: Jorge Prince and current Ward 1 councilor Michael Meehlhause will be the two candidates for Bemidji mayor, with Prince getting 41% and Meehlhause receiving 19%.

Bemidji Ward 1: Audrey Thayer and Joe Gould advance to the general election – Thayer received almost 52% of the vote, with Gould getting 23%.

Bemidji Ward 3: Incumbent Ron Johnson will face Greg Kuhn in the general election. Johnson earned 60%, with Kuhn coming in at a little under 25% of the vote.

Bemidji Ward 5: Incumbent Nancy Erickson will take on Don Heinonen. Erickson got 45% of the vote to Heinonen’s 31%.

Beltrami County District 5 Commissioner: The Beltrami County District 5 Commissioner primary shows incumbent Jim Lucachick (at 61%) and Mike Bredon (at 20%) as the top vote getters. They will advance to the general election.

Crow Wing County District 5 Commissioner: Incumbent Doug Houge and Michael Starry move to the general election, where Houge earned over 46% of the vote to Starry’s 31%.

Morrison County District 3 Commissioner: Randy Winscher and Al Doty are the top vote getters with 45% and 32%, respectively. They both move on to the general election.

Wadena County District 2 Commissioner: In a relatively close race, Michael Weyer and Brian Hagen win the primary for District 2 and will face off in the fall. Weyer earned over 30% of the vote to Hagen’s 25%. Rachel Johnson got 23%, with Ralph Miller coming in at 21%.

Red Lake School Board At Large: The field has been whittled from seven candidates to six for the general election, where three will then be elected. With 4 of 5 precincts reporting, Jack Desjarlait, Patricia Neadeau, Michael Barrett, Christopher Jourdain, Tina Stately, and Rob Pemberton, Sr. will be on the fall ballot. The only one who would not move on would be Susan Ninham.

Also of note is a special election held for the Bemidji Ward 2 City Council seat, where Josh Peterson topped Jaime Thibideaux by a 61-to-39 percent margin. Peterson will hold the position through 2022.

By — Lakeland News