UPDATE (11:38 p.m.): With all 43 Wright County precincts reporting. Sean Deringer and Mike Kaczmarek have edged the field of five candidates for Wright County Sheriff or the 2018 Minnesota Primary Election.
The two men will head to November for the right to be the next lead officer in the department.
Full primary results, with reports from each precinct, can be found on the Minnesota Secretary of State website. The county will canvass and approve those results later this month.
Original story:
Sean Deringer had built a small lead over Mike Kaczmarek, 4,690 to 4,347, with 36 of 43 precincts reporting. Scherber, a St. Michael-Albertville High School graduate and member of the St. Michael School Board, was third with 2,129 votes. Stacy Braun, who ran in 2016’s election, was in fourth, with Chad Torkelson at the bottom.
Deringer and Kaczmarek are both members of the Wright County Sheriff’s Office. The two men would go head-to-head in November to take the seat as current Sheriff Joe Hagerty – of St. Michael – rides off into the sunset Jan. 1, 2019.
Governor’s Race Set for November
Endorsed candidate Jeff Johnson held off a challenge from former Minnesota Governor and one-time Presidential candidate Tim Pawlenty in the primary, cruising to a win for the Republican nomination. Johnson, in his second bid for the state’s top position, led Pawlenty by 12 points here in Wright County with about 85 percent of the votes counted.
Pawlenty’s bid for a third term came up well short statewide. He carried Stearns County, but most of the Twin Cities metro went with Johnson. Pawlenty served as the state’s governor from 2002-2010.
Tim Walz, who was not the endorsed candidate, will be the Democratic nominee. He held back endorsed candidate Erin Murphy by dominating the southern half of the state, which he represented in the United States Congress.
Walz also pulled out a surprising win in Hennepin County with most precincts reporting at 11 p.m., leading her by more than 3,000 votes.
Other State Races Set
A complete breakdown of statewide races and local legislative races can be found on the Minneapolis Star Tribune site, which broke down coverage throughout Tuesday night’s historic primary. Turnout was considered to be on a record pace from even the 2016 Presidential primary, election officials said, with both parties motivated for the huge mid-term election coming up in a mere 11 weeks.
Closer to home, Legislative District 34A was host to some controversy after endorsed candidate Brad Ganzer was caught in some legal trouble that wasn’t reported during the endorsement process. As a result, Kristin Robbins cruised to a primary win for the GOP nomination, and she’ll take on the DFL’s Dan Solon this fall.