Primary Election Live Blog

[8/13] The Republicans shall be without Honour — or Housley, either, for that matter.

[10:45] I doubt at this point Zellers (currently second place), or anyone else for that matter, can make up the 8,000+ vote lead that Johnson has.

I’m putting this Live blog to bed.

[10:38] 72% of precincts in now, and there hasn’t been much movement since when there were 58% in:

Johnson 30%
Zellers 24%
Honour 22%
Seifert 20%

[10:12] Here’s an update on the GOP Gubernatorial primary, with 58% of precincts in:

Johnson 31%
Zellers 24%
Honour 22%
Seifert 20%

While there’s been a bit of regression in his lead since the votes from Hennepin county stopped flowing, Jeff Johnson is still maintaining a roughly 5 point lead.

[10:09] With more than half of precincts reporting Jim Hagedorn is still leading GOP endorsed candidate Aaron Miller in the 1st congressional district:

Hagedorn 58%
Miller 42%

[10:07] The DFL primary in house district 44B is complete:

Applebaum 38%
Tollefson 26%
Wagner 36%

[9:49] An update on some State leg races:

12A (GOP) [59 of 147]

Backer 80%
Taffe 20%

44B (DFL) [17 of 18]

Applebaum 38%
Tollefson 26%
Wagner 36%

47A (GOP) [7 of 21]

Nash 62%
Frey 38%

51A (GOP) [3 of 11]

Todd-Harlin 62%
Lake 38%

[9:41] Almost 40% of precincts are in and the Johnson slippage, Seifert climb is still happening:

Governor (GOP)

Johnson 32%
Honour 23%
Zellers 24%
Seifert 19%

[9:32] 33% of precincts are in now, Johnson is slipping a bit, but his nearest competitor’s are not gaining:

Governor (GOP)

Johnson 32%
Honour 24%
Zellers 24%
Seifert 17%

[9:28] Entenza has conceded.

[9:20] 15 of 18 precincts reporting in the Democratic primary for the house 44B seat:

Applebaum 39%
Tollefson 26%
Wagner 35%

[9:17] 23% of precincts in now, the cake is starting to get baked:

Governor (GOP)

Johnson 34%
Honour 24%
Zellers 24%
Seifert 15%

Auditor (DFL)

Otto 84%
Entenza 16%

The Auditors race is over.

[9:11] There are results in the Democratic primary for the house 44B seat:

Applebaum 44%
Tollefson 23%
Wagner 33%

[9:09] Aaron Miller is closing the gap in the race to face Tim Walz in the first district, that contest now stands at:

Hagedorn 56%
Miller 44%

[9:07] And with 15% in, here are where the two marquee races are at:

Governor (GOP)

Johnson 33%
Honour 24%
Zellers 25%
Seifert 15%

Auditor (DFL)

Otto 83%
Entenza 17%

[9:04] Also done is the house race in 60B:

Kahn 55%
Noor 45%

[9:03] There was just a big dump of votes and the primary in house district 48B is resolved:

Kihne 39%
Loon 61%

[8:57] With 5% of precincts in, the results of the two big races are:

Governor (GOP)

Johnson 34%
Honour 25%
Zellers 25%
Seifert 14%

Auditor (DFL)

Otto 85%
Entenza 15%

[8:37] There are votes being reported in the house district 48B race, with 5 of 12 precincts.

Kihne 38%
Loon 62%

[8:29] It’s early (caveat!), but Jim Hagedorn is up 67-33 on Aaron Miller in the race to lose to Tim Walz in the first district. Only 19 of 696 precincts though.

[8:23] No votes in yet in any of the state leg races.

[8:20] Votes are beginning to come in. 30 precincts are now reporting.

Each candidate has just hundreds of votes so far in the GOP Guv race it’s:

Johnson 35%
Honour 26%
Zellers 22%
Seifert 12%

And in the auditor’s race:

Otto 85%
Entenza 15%

—

Polls close at 8pm tonight. When results begin to roll in the live blog will appear above these words. Below these words are some brief notes about the marquee races being decided tonight (mostly cribbed from an earlier post I wrote about these very races).

GOP Governor

The Candidates:

Jeff Johnson, Hennepin County Commissioner and the GOP endorsed candidate
Marty Seifert, former House Minority Leader
Kurt Zellers, former Speaker of the House
Scott Honour, businessperson

Analysis:

This is what I wrote about this race back in June:

At this point it’s hard to see how this race will play out. It’s been so long since there was a contested statewide Republican primary, that it’s tough to gauge how many votes the GOP endorsement will be worth, there is plausible path to victory for all four of the candidates and the ultimate winner may not need more than 30%.

That seems about right.

DFL Auditor

The Candidates:

Rebecca Otto, two-term Auditor
Matt Entenza, former House Minority Leader

Analysis:

Matt Entenza’s campaign has been going on two tracks; depress progressive turnout for Otto by attacking her on VoterID and scare seniors, the most reliable primary voting bloc, about their pensions.

I’m skeptical it will work.

Legislative Races

District 12A GOP Primary

The Candidates:

Jeff Backer, former Browns Valley Mayor and GOP endorsed candidate
Nancy Taffe, businessperson

District 30B GOP Primary

The Candidates:

Kevin Kasel, St. Michael City Councilperson
Eric Lucero, Dayton City Councilperson and GOP endorsed candidate

District 44B DFL Primary

The Candidates:
Jon Applebaum, Lawyer, consultant
Jon Tollefson, Minnesota High Tech Association and former foreign service officer
Tony Wagner, Minnetonka City Councilperson

District 47A GOP Primary

The Candidates:
Bob Frey, businessperson
Jim Nash, Waconia Mayor

District 48B GOP Primary

The Candidates:
Sheila Kihne, activist
Jenifer Loon, three-term state Representative

District 51A GOP Primary

The Candidates:
Victor Lake, businessperson
Andrea Todd-Harlin, Eagan Parks Commissioner

District 60B DFL Primary

The Candidates:
Phyllis Kahn, twenty-one term Representative
Mohamud Noor, Minneapolis School Board member