Area Republicans look to maintain House stronghold

Republican incumbent Chris Swedzinski held his House Representative District 15A seat, defeating Democratic challenger Anthony Studemann of Marshall.

First elected in 2012, Swedzinski, of Ghent, had 70% of the vote with 345 of precincts reporting. Swedzinski carried Tracy with nearly 69% of the vote (556-213).

• In House 15B, Republican incumbent Paul Torkelson of Hanska led challenger Thomas Kuster by  more than 2,000 votes with 25% of precincts reporting.

• In House 21A, Republican incumbent Joe Schomacker of Luverne had a comfortable lead over Creedence Matthew Petroff, with 83% of the vote with 81 of 127 precincts reporting.

• In the Minnesota U.S. Senate race, Republican challenger Royce White led early, but incumbent Sen. Amy Klobuchar rallied to take a sizeable lead with 47% of precincts reporting. Klobuchar had 60% of the votes at that time. Locally, White collected 514 votes in Tracy, with Klobuchar getting 372. White also carried Balaton with 202 votes to Klobuchar’s 132.

• In the Minnesota District 7 U.S. Congressional race, Republican Michelle Fischbach had nearly 69% of the vote in her race against Democrat John Peters as of 10:45 p.m.

• A Constituional amendment on the ballot in Minnesota to extend the Environmental Trust Fund will likely pass, as 66% of voters backed the amendment with 20% of precincts reporting.

The amendment question was: “Shall the Minnesota Constitution be amended to protect drinking water sources and the water quality of lakes, rivers, and streams; conserve wildlife habitat and natural areas; improve air quality; and expand access to parks and trails by extending the transfer of proceeds from the state-operated lottery to the environment and natural resources trust fund, and to dedicate the proceeds for these purposes?”

The vote will determine whether the amendment will continue for another 25 years.

Tracy voters backed the amendment  with 72% of residents voting yes.