Peterson leads Hughes; Klobuchar, Smith come out on top

Blue Dog Democrat Congressman Collin Peterson was aiming for another win over David Hughes on Tuesday.

With 70% of the precincts reporting, Peterson led by five percentage points.

Peterson has served Minnesota’s 7th District since 1990. He defeated Hughes by just five percentage points in the 2016 election.

• U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar won another term by defeating Jim Newberger and former Lt. Gov. Tina Smith won over Karen Housley in a special election. Smith was appointed to replace former Sen. Al Franken, who resigned in 2018 after allegations of misconduct arose.

• Keith Ellison held a slight lead late over his Republican challenger, Doug Wardlow, to become the state’s next Attorney General.

• Steve Simon won the Secretary of State race and Julie Blaha won the State Auditor contest.