ST. PAUL, Min. — Control of The Minnesota House of Representatives depends on the outcome of races in two districts, and recounts could occur in both districts.
At this point, the DFL and Republican candidates each won 67 races.
On election night, a page on the Minnesota Secretary of State’s website showed that 100% of the votes were for Minnesota House District 14B, with Republican Sue Ek four votes ahead.
“I thought I won, and my friends and people at the party were ecstatic,” Ek said.
But when the page was refreshed, the results showed Democratic incumbent Dan Wolgamott leading with a 191-vote lead.
“People are calling and texting and emailing and saying, ‘What happened? This doesn’t make sense.’ So we have to get to the bottom of it,” she says.
WCCO
Sherburne County said in a statement that there was an upload error and that for the sake of transparency, the county will pay for a recount.
In Scott County, it appeared that Republican Aaron Paul was on his way to defeating the incumbent Democratic Rep. to beat Brad Tabke. But when votes were posted, and after screening, Tabke was ahead by 14 votes.
Scott County Elections Manager Julie Hanson also blamed a computer glitch.
“I think we had a scanner malfunction and it happened a few times and they weren’t counted properly,” Hanson said.
The results in these two districts will decide who controls the House. Republican Speaker-designate of the House of Representatives Lisa Demuth says the discrepancies are “intolerable and unacceptable.”
And while the results raise many questions, election officials in both counties say this is an example of how the system catches glitches and ultimately works.
We’ll learn later this week whether these House races lead to recounts. WCCO could not reach the Minnesota Secretary of State’s office Monday because it was a federal holiday.
Esme Murphy
