Cook County Election Results

County Commissioner District 2 and 4: Incumbent Cook County District 2 Commissioner Garry Gamble was defeated in his bid for reelection last night by challenger Myron Bursheim, 307 votes to 227.
Grand Marais East Precinct 5 went 58.44% to 41.06% for Bursheim and Croftville Precinct 4 went 53.96% to 46.04% for Bursheim.

District 4 Commissioner Heidi Doo-Kirk ran unopposed and tallied 93.63% of the vote in Gunflint Trail Precinct 8 and 89.2% in Maple Hill 8A.

School Issues: School District ISD166 had two questions on the ballot. Both passed, but not in every precinct.
Question One asked for Approval to be authorized to issue general obligation school building bonds in an amount not to exceed $6,500,000 for acquisition and betterment of school facilities. It passed by 1,876 to 1447.
The Hovland and Tofte precincts voted against the measure.

Question Two asked for approval to increase the School District's general education revenue levy by $800 per pupil. It passed by 1,945 to 1,392. The measure failed in the Hovland precinct.

Two uncontested school board positions were up for election. Incumbent District 4 Sissy Lunde received 97.19% of the vote. District 2 candidate Carrie Jansen received 98.14% of the vote.

Grand Marais: Grand Marais residents got to vote for two City Council positions. Both Tim Kennedy and Tracy Benson ran unopposed for their two seats. Kennedy received 480 votes and Benson, 590.

Incumbent Grand Marais Mayor Jay Arrowsmith DeCoux failed to file, so consequently ran as a write-in candidate. Out of 393 write-in votes, he received 281. The other votes were divided among two dozen write-ins.

Soil and Water: There were three uncontested incumbent Soil and Water positions on the ballot. All three candidates won their seats. Donald Goodell in District 1, Joan Farnam in District 3 and Jerry Hiniker in District 5.

Hospital Board: Two Hospital Board members ran unopposed. District 2 Justin Mueller won 98.82% of the vote. District 4 Kay Olson received 98.18% of the vote.

Minnesota Congressional races: All eight of Minnesota’s Congressional Districts were in play this election, with three considered highly contested.
In our 8th Congressional District the battle was once again between Democrat incumbent Rep. Rick Nolan and Republican challenger Stewart Mills. At this writing the count is too close to call.
Cook County voters gave the nod to Nolan with all 13 precincts in the Nolan column: 65.16% Nolan and 34.63 went for Mills.

Congressional District 2 in the south and east metro suburbs, Democrat Angie Craig was out-polled by Republican Jason Lewis 50% to 41%.
In Congressional District 3, the west Metro area, incumbent Republican Erik Paulsen pulled a win over DFLer Terri Bonoff 56.70% to 43%.

The Constitutional Amendment 1, which asks voters if they want to “Remove Lawmakers’ Power to Set Their Own Pay” passed with the required 50% or more. The question read: “Shall the Minnesota Constitution be amended to remove state lawmakers' power to set their own salaries, and instead establish an independent, citizens-only council to prescribe salaries of lawmakers?”
76.81% of Minnesota voters said “yes.”

Supreme Court: There was one contested seat on the Minnesota Supreme Court on the ballot. Incumbent Associate Justice Natalie Hudson handily defeated challenger Michelle MacDonald state-wide, 58.80% to 40.78%.

In Cook County the vote total showed Hudson winning 70.18% to MacDonald’s 29.70%.

Presidential Vote: The national vote total is in and Donald Trump wins over Hillary Clinton with a popular vote of 57,581,441 and 276 of the electoral vote as of 2:30 a.m. Wednesday.

Cook County went for Hillary Clinton with 56.33% of the 13 precincts in the Democrat column. Those going Trump were 34.06%.
In The 8th District, Trump won with 53.31% of the vote to Clinton’s 38.65%.