2024 Primary Election Results for Lakeland Viewing Area

On Tuesday, voters narrowed down the field of candidates in numerous races across the state today in Minnesota’s primary election.

The primary election determines who will be on the ballot for the general election on November 5th. Here’s a look at unofficial results from races in the Lakeland viewing area. In the following contests, all precincts have reported in unless otherwise noted:

Bemidji Mayor, City Council Ward 3, and City Council Ward 5

In the primary race for Bemidji Mayor, incumbent Jorge Prince earned 72.45% of the vote with 839 votes, while former City Councilor At-Large Daniel Jourdain got 21.85%, or 253 votes. Both Prince and Jourdain will move on to the general election. Adam Steele, the third candidate in the race, came away with 66 votes, or 5.70%.

For Ward 3 Councilor, Mark Dickinson and Katie Carter will face off this fall. They got 68% (204 votes) and 23% (69 votes), respectively. Greg Kuhn came in third with 9%, or 27 votes.

Opponents in Ward 5 were more evenly matched, but in the end, incumbent Lynn Eaton and challenger Bill Batchelder will be on the general election ballot in November. Eaton came out with the most votes at 126 (38.30%), and Batchelder followed him with 104 (31.61%). A third challenger, former City Councilor Michael Meehlhause, got 99 votes, or 30.09% of the vote.

Beltrami County Commissioner District 4

Incumbent Tim Sumner and challenger Frank Duresky will be on the ballot this fall. Sumner came away with the most votes, with 641 (56.43%), while Duresky earned 431 (37.94%). Coming after them was John Winnett, who got 64 votes (5.63%).

Cass County Commissioner District 3

Karen Goodenough and Rusty Lilyquist will move on to the general election this fall. Goodenough won 562 votes (45.92%), while Lilyquest received 455 (37.17%). They were followed by Jim Qualley with 207 votes (16.91%).

Clearwater County Commissioner District 2 and District 4

There were five candidates vying to be on the ballot this fall for District 2. The top two vote-getters were Greg Scherzer with 85 votes (36.17%) and Bryan Ramsrud with 65 votes (27.66%). They were followed by Adam Broden with 34 (14.47%), James O’Bryan with 30 (12.77%), and Carl McCollum with 21 (8.94%).

In District 4, Bruce Emmel and Juleigh Prosser will head to the general election. Emmel received 118 votes (43.07%) and Prosser got 83 (30.29%). The third candidate, Corey Petterson, came away with 73 votes (26.64%).

Crow Wing County Commissioner District 5

It appears that incumbent Crow Wing County Commissioner Doug Houge will not go on to the general election in District 5, as his challengers, Johnna Johnson and Jamie Lee, both received more votes. Lee got the most with 674 (34.44%), followed closely by Johnson with 664 (33.93%). Houge received 619 votes (31.63%).

Mille Lacs County Commissioner District 3

Out of a field of four candidates, Jay Munson came away with the most votes, winning 112 (33.33%). But following him was a tie for second place: both Aaron James Plumski and Diana Klages received 79 votes each, or 23.51% of the vote.

Following them was Martin L. Grimm with 66 votes (19.64%).

Morrison County Commissioner District 2

Ed Moran and Hasten Warnberg will be on the ballot this fall for Morrison County Commissioner in District 2. Moran won 329 votes (42.51%) and Warnberg received 233 (30.10%). John A. Kunelius followed them with 212 votes (27.39%).

State House District 6B

In the Republican primary, incumbent state Rep. Josh Heintzeman was up against challenger Matthew Zinda and defeated him with 91.04% of the vote. Heintzeman will take on DFLer Emily LeClaire, who ran unopposed, in the fall.

State House District 10A

In what appears to have been a close contest in the Republican primary, incumbent Rep. Ron Kresha has beaten Diane Webb-Skillings from Aitkin by less than 1% of the vote. Kresha got 50.38%, while Webb-Skillings came away with 49.62%.

Kresha will face DFL challenger Julia Samsal Hipp in the general election.

U.S. Senate

For the Republicans, out of a field of eight candidates, Royce White, a former NBA basketball player and the endorsed candidate, has emerged victorious with about 38.54% of the vote. Rival Joe Fraser received 29.26% of the vote.

White will face incumbent Democratic Sen. Amy Klobuchar in the fall. Klobuchar, who had four other opponents, won handily in the Democratic primary with about 94% of the vote.

As of about 11:50 p.m. on Tuesday, 99.88% of precincts have reported in that race.

U.S. House District 7

Incumbent Republican Rep. Michelle Fischbach was challenged by Steve Boyd but came out with 64.67% of the vote. She will take on Democrat AJ (John) Peters in the general election, who ran unopposed.

99.62% of precincts have reported as of 11:50 p.m.

U.S. House District 8

Pete Stauber, the incumbent Republican Rep. for the Eighth Congressional District, was the big winner on Tuesday, as he got 90.49% of the vote to beat opponent Harry R. Welty.

On the Democrats’ side, endorsed candidate Jen Schultz also had a dominant win with 90.97% to defeat opponent John Munter. Stauber and Schultz will now face each other this fall.

More election results can be found on the Minnesota Secretary of State website.