Primary election day: What you need to know
Polls will be open across most of Minnesota and Wisconsin today from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.By: News Tribune staff, Duluth News Tribune
When to vote
Polls will be open across most of Minnesota and Wisconsin today from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Where to vote
Some polling places changed with precinct lines after this year’s redistricting. But finding your polling place is easy.
In Minnesota, go to pollfinder.sos.state.mn.us, type in your ZIP code, then type in your street address. If you don’t have access to the Internet, call your city clerk or county auditor.
/pollfinder.php or contact your county clerk.
How to vote
In Minnesota and Wisconsin you can register to vote on Election Day with proper identification for a residence in that precinct. For more information in Minnesota go to www.mnvotes.org or www.sos.state.wi.us and click on election information.
Stay on one side or the other
Minnesota and Wisconsin both have an “open primary,” which means voters are not required to register with a political party. However, primary voters can’t vote for candidates in more than one party, so you have to stick with that party for all the races.
Why vote?
The 8th Congressional District has perhaps the state’s most interesting primary on the DFL side. DFLers will choose a candidate to take on incumbent freshman U.S. Rep. Chip Cravaack in November. The DFL options are Jeff Anderson, former Duluth city councilor; former U.S. Rep. Rick Nolan; and former state lawmaker Tarryl Clark.
DFLers also have primary races in a few legislative districts, including eastern Duluth and another on the eastern Iron Range, House District 6B, where a successor for retiring Rep. Tom Rukavina will be picked. DFLers on the western Iron Range also have a primary for state Senate between incumbent Tom Saxhaug of Grand Rapids and Laverne Pederson of Bemidji.
There’s a non-partisan primary for St. Louis County Board District 3 in western Duluth where incumbent Chris Dahlberg and challengers Debbie Isabell-Nelson and Dennis Szymialis are on the ballot. The top two will go on to the November election.
Republicans in Minnesota have far fewer contested primaries in the region, with only one on the eastern Iron Range, House District 6B.
Wisconsin Republicans, however, have a hotly contested primary race for U.S. Senate between former Gov. Tommy Thompson, former U.S. Rep. Mark Neumann, businessman Eric Hovde and state Assembly Speaker Jeff Fitzgerald. The winner will take on Democrat Tammy Baldwin in November for the seat currently held by retiring Democratic Sen. Herb Kohl.
There are contested races on both DFL and Republican sides of the U.S. Senate race for Minnesota.
Who won?
The News Tribune will post election results as soon as they are available at duluthnewstribune.com.
What’s next?
The general election is Nov. 6.
Tags: news, elections, politics
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