Roger Skraba

Cal Warwas

• 
• 

REGIONAL- Minnesota District 3A Rep. Roger Skraba easily won re-election to a second term on Tuesday, while Republican Cal Warwas won the contest to fill the District 7B seat vacated by the retirement of DFL Rep. Dave Lislegard.
It was one former mayor besting another in the District 3A race, as Republican Skraba collected 14,443 votes to DFL challenger Harley Droba’s 10,779 votes, a 55.5-41.5 percent margin.
Skraba fared better in Droba’s home turf of International Falls, winning by 700 votes, than he did in his hometown of Ely, where he prevailed by 202 votes. Droba handily won the race in Cook County, ran close but lost in Lake County, and lost St. Louis, Koochiching, and Itasca counties by large margins.
Skraba’s victory is a clear indicator of the shift of regional politics toward the Republican Party, a shift that limited Skraba’s effectiveness in the DFL-controlled House during his first term.
District 7B
Warwas had little difficulty in winning the District 7B race, topping DFL candidate Lorrie Janatopoulos by 13,781 to 10,655 votes, a margin of 56-44 percent.
Warwas won all but three of the 57 precincts in the district, losing only French and McKinley Townships and Virginia Precinct 3.
Warwas ran on a conservative, pro-mining agenda and aligns with Republican positions the party tried to advance in the most recent legislative session.
Pending the outcomes of other House races, Warwas and Skraba could end up in the House majority should Republicans be successful in flipping the chamber. If not, they will have to contend with the DFL trifecta of state government control.
Their fate may lie with the results of races in House Districts 14B, in central Minnesota, and 54A in the Twin Cities metro. DFL candidates currently lead those races by margins close enough to trigger automatic recounts.