Mark Wilwant captures Sheriff’s race: 88 percent of registered voters cast ballots in Kittson County

By Margie Holmgren
The Kittson County Sheriff’s race had Mark Wilwant leading the entire night and capturing the position with 1,482 votes. Steve Porter had 871 votes and there were 16 write-ins.
Kittson County had 2,416 of its 2,750 registered voters cast ballots during this election.
These election results are not official until they have been reviewed and certified by a canvassing board.
Loren Younggren and Darrel Johnson are the newly elected Kittson County Commissioners for District 3 and 5 respectively.
Hallock City Council members Naomi Larson, in a special election, and Michael Totleben and Jennifer Peterson remain in their seats.
Dale Nelson received 168 votes for the Karlstad mayoral position with Peter Knapp receiving 86 votes. Connie Nordin and Pete Kautzman will fill the two council positions.
Kennedy’s City Council race had Mark Holman receiving 67 votes and Jason Christian 65 to fill the two seats there. They beat out Kevin Hanson with 61 votes and Arnold Christian with 21 votes.
The mayor’s race had Matt Casper running unopposed and receiving 45 votes, but Earl Mattson received approximately 67 as a write-in.
Jerry Vanderlinde will be the Lake Bronson Mayor and council members will be Pattijo Schmiedeberg and Clarence Strom. Ryan Rector will fill the special election position on the council.
Mike Olson retains his seat as mayor of Lancaster and Faye Potrament and Kathy Bernstrom will fill the two open council positions.
Humboldt mayor will be Richard Bakken, with Susan Gatheridge and Becky Bakken filling the two council positions.
St Vincent mayor votes went to Evan Herberg and Daniel Ohmann fills one of the open council seats.
Kittson Central School Board members Mark Johnson and Eric Ristad will retain their positions while Amanda Pinnock will fill the seat vacated by Matt Kuznia.
Lancaster School Board will have three new members with Jason Langerud, Brad Homstad and Lacey Lupien filling the three open spots and Justin Peterson elected in the special election filling the vacated seat of Jim Scalese.
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Karlstad School Board will be filled by Mark Koland, Raeya Hanson, Jenalea Duray and Jenna Caldwell. Holly Burkel will fill the special election position.
Robert Albrecht, who ran unopposed, will be the new county attorney.
In state races:
Amy Klobuchar will retain her seat as U.S. Senator receiving 60 percent of the votes in the state, 56 percent. in Kittson County.
Tina Smith will remain in the U.S. Senate in the special election with 52.96 percent of the vote across the state and 48.29 percent in the county.
Collin Peterson remains the U.S. Representative for District 7 with 146,652 votes, 1,515 from Kittson County, against his challenger, Dave Hughes.
Dan Fabian defeated Stephen Moeller, 11,633 to 4,768, to remain in the State Representative District 1A seat.
Tim Walz and Peggy Flanagan will be the new Governor and Lt. Governor for Minnesota even though in Kittson County they received only 46.49 percent of the votes.
Steve Simon, current Secretary of State, will remain in his position even though he received only 47.59 percent of the votes in the county.
Julie Blaha will be the new State Auditor, receiving 44.36 percent of the votes in the county. Pam Myhra received 48.95 percent in the county.
In a similar fashion, Keith Ellison, received only 44.38 percent of the votes in the county, but was elected as the states attorney general.