Legalectric

Kevin Dahle takes it by 13%. YES! Not that I’m a big fan of Dahle’s, don’t know him well at all, but it seals the DFL majority in the Senate. Pawlenty was stumping for Cox, saying that, threatening?, that if Ray didn’t win, the DFL Senate could override any veto. AWWWWWWWW… But this isn’t so surprising, given the index of the district. What’s most surprising is his high level of support in the southwestern and western part of the district, 25A, where a Republican could be expected to do better. But despite party endorsement, Ray had two challengers in the Primary:

SD 25 Primary results

So it’s clear that there’s resistance, and that resistance was from the 25A part of the district. In LeSueur County, it was less than two percentage points, and Vance Norgaard’s share was 3.5%, but it’s hard to tell where Vance’s voters were, and typically independents draw equally from both, ask Ralph Nader!

LeSueur County results

On the other hand, Ray won in Sibley County by a wide margin, nearly 10 percent:

Sibley County results

Then there’s the Scott County share of SD25, where Ray won by nearly 14 percent:

Scott County results

And coming in last, the latest to report, was Rice County, Northfield holding up the show while we sit on the edge of our chairs:

Rice County results

Dahle wins Rice County by 27 percent! Northfield, of course, thinks it’s so special, but look at the townships, where I think candidates rise or fall. Look at Bridgewater, a township lurching towards urbanization in disturbing ways:

Bridgewater results

Dahle takes Bridgewater by over 6%, which has traditionally been a Ray precinct in House elections. Look at Shieldsville, which Dahle took by 12 percent:

Shieldsville results

Wheeling Township, home of Doug Jones,

oh, not THAT Doug Jones, this Doug Jones is one of Ray’s Republican handlers, the guy who has the award-winning McMansion sprawling across a hilly pasture near Nerstrand… anyway, typically, that’s a township leaning Republican, but here’s the Wheeling vote, exactly equally divided:

Wheeling Township

And look at Ward 2, Precinct 1 of Northfield, looking like a Northfield precinct should, with Dahle getting 73 percent of the vote:

Northfield Ward 2, Pct 1

Ward 2, Precinct 2 is also a strong win for Dahle:

Northfield Ward 2, Pct 2

Ray didn’t take a single precinct in Northfield, where they know him best and where his prior representation of House District 25B apparently didn’t go over too well! Here’s the Secretary of State site so you can look at the County and the Precinct by Precinct numbers:

Secretary of State 1/03/08 SD 25 Election Results

Now, what will the DFL do with this? Does the DFL have the gonads to use their majority, to stand up and turn our wrongheaded policy, particularly energy policy, around?  The whole world is watching… well, at least Minnesota!