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Serving Northern St. Louis County, Minnesota

Ecklund wins District 3A primary

Edges Hansen by 446 votes out of 7,053 cast

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REGIONAL— The voting strength of International Falls made the difference Tuesday night as Koochiching County Commissioner Rob Ecklund racked up an impregnable lead that his nearest rival, Tofte businessman Bill Hansen, couldn’t overcome.

Ecklund tallied just over 75 percent of the vote in Koochiching County, staking himself to a better-than 1,200-vote margin over Hansen as the early returns came in.

Ecklund, who won his last commissioner’s race with 83 percent of the vote, said he expected a strong showing in his home base. “People know that I work hard and that I take what I do seriously,” he said. “When I commit to something, I commit to it 100 percent.”

In the end, out of 7,053 votes cast district-wide, Ecklund tallied 3,083, or 44 percent, to 2,637, or 37 percent, for Hansen, a difference of 446 votes.

Hansen racked up lopsided margins of his own in his home base of Cook County, where he garnered 80 percent of the vote overall. He also won easily in Lake County, with 52 percent to 35 percent for Ecklund. But Ecklund drew strength, as well, in northwestern St. Louis County and it was enough to give him the edge.

The two other candidates in the race, I-Falls businessman Eric Johnson and Ely City Councilor Heidi Omerza finished third and fourth respectively, each with just under ten percent of the vote.

Geography more than issues

Tuesday’s results demonstrated that geography more than issues made the difference. Each candidate fared best on their home turf and, with a few exceptions, quickly faded in other parts of the vast district. Ecklund, who drew 75 percent support in Koochiching, picked up less than ten percent of the vote in Cook County, on the other end of the district. Hansen, by contrast, tallied just over seven percent in Koochiching County.

Hansen had distinguished himself as the only one of the four candidates to oppose copper-nickel mining, and the issue appeared to work mostly to his advantage in the primary. Hansen, who had run against the late David Dill in the hotly-contested 2002 DFL primary in what was then District 6A, significantly improved his vote totals in areas where the debate over copper-nickel has been most intense.

While Hansen had lost by wide margins in the Ely area in 2002, he dominated the voting in Fall Lake (56 percent) and Eagles Nest (57 percent) townships, and even edged Ecklund by two votes in Morse Township. Stony River Township, located in the heart of the potential copper-nickel district, went for Hansen by 63 percent to 24 percent for Ecklund.

In the city of Ely itself, Ecklund proved the top vote-getter, with 335 votes, while Omerza edged Hansen for the second place spot, with 202 votes. Hansen drew 182 votes, a major improvement over the 130 votes he tallied in the city in 2002, despite much lower turnout in 2015.

The mining issue was almost certainly less important on the eastern and western ends of the district, where the effects, positive or negative, are less likely to be felt. In those places, it came down mostly to geography and familiarity with their local candidate. That’s a pattern that has been well-established in previous DFL primaries in the region.

Tuesday’s outcome reflects the degree to which the balance of power in the district has shifted to the north and west, particularly to International Falls, now the largest city in the district by a wide margin. Based on voting Tuesday, Hansen likely would have won easily within the boundaries of the old 6A, but the addition of Koochiching County made all the difference.

A disparity in turnout helped Hansen narrow the gap. About a quarter of registered voters turned out in the DFL primary in Koochiching, St. Louis, and Lake counties, but Hansen’s get-out-the-vote efforts helped boost turnout in Cook County to 46 percent.

Hansen congratulated Ecklund on Tuesday night even as a handful of Cook County precincts were still outstanding. Hansen, in a statement, said he’s been impressed by Ecklund’s progressive views throughout the campaign and offered his full support and endorsement as Ecklund moves on to the general election, where he’ll face Republican Roger Skraba and Independent Kelsey Johnson.

Moving towards the general, Ecklund— now the prohibitive favorite in the DFL-leaning district— said he’ll continue making the case for more funding for investments in technology, like broadband, and more funding for local governments and schools. “We’re slowly slipping in those areas. We need consistent funding,” he said.

Ecklund said he was looking forward to a few days off before hitting the campaign trail again starting next week. “I estimated I made 3,000 phone calls in the last month,” he said. “My ear feels like cauliflower.”