Multiple news outlets, including the three major television networks, as well as Fox News and CNN, have called a trio of races here in Minnesota on Election Night.
Tom Emmer, right, with campaign head and former District 30B House Rep. David FitzSimmons. Emmer will, it appears, be headed to Washington as a Congressman.
Former State Rep. Tom Emmer, who represented the St. Michael and Albertville areas less than a decade ago, is likely headed to Capitol Hill as the newest representative from Minnesota’s Sixth Congressional District, replacing the “retiring” Rep. Michele Bachmann.
Early returns and exit polling show the former gubernatorial candidate, who lost to current Gov. Mark Dayton in a recount that lasted four weeks back in 2010, the winner over Sartell mayor Joe Perske.
Emmer had a 1,700 vote lead with about 7 percent of precincts reporting, and exit polling conducted shows him maintaining that lead throughout the evening.
Speaking of Mark Dayton, the governor won’t have to wait this time around. The major networks and their affiliates called the race for the former U.S. Senator turned state leader almost immediately after polls closed at 8 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 4.
Dayton would defeat Hennepin County Commissioner and former state house member Jeff Johnson if the results hold. Dayton held a 5 point advantage as polls with lines wound down at 8:30 p.m. and results started to roll into the Minnesota Secretary of State website.
And incumbent U.S. Sen. Al Franken will also, it appears, avoid the trials and turmoil that surrounded his election to office in 2008.
Franken waited months, literally, as a recount declared him a winner over then-Sen. Norm Coleman by less than 500 votes.
Tuesday, Franken held a 15-point lead in the early going over challenger Mike McFadden, making the St. Louis Park native the winner as declared by major news outlets nationally.
RESULTS VIA MINNESOTA SECRETARY OF STATE