It's now official -- Supreme Court Justice Lorie Skjerven Gildea's challenger in the November election will be Hennepin County District Court Judge Deborah Hedlund.
In the primary, Gildea was top vote-getter for the seat she currently occupies, receiving more than 53 percent of the vote. Hedlund and Minneapolis attorney Jill Clark finished within a half of percentage point of each other for the #2 spot spot on the ballot (Hedlund had 17.86 percent to Clark's 17.43 percent), necessitating a recount under state law. With a margin of more than 1,300 votes separating the two candidates, the gap was narrowed by just 7 votes in the recount. (Click here to see the breakdown of the voting.) The results were certified yesterday.
A shout out to the counties and the office of Secretary of State Mark Ritchie for getting this recount done so speedily. The retabulation by hand of thousands of ballots in a statewide election is no easy feat, and in this case was carried out with record alacrity.
The Gildea-Hedlund race should be an interesting one if, for no other reason, for the first time in recent memory it pits two sitting judges against each other. Stay tuned for more coverage of this and other judicial races ...
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Most prophets are without honor in their own lands.
If your neighbors do not like you, how can you expect to win a state-wide election?
One way to measure how effectively the five challengers to Supreme Court Justices Paul Anderson and Lorie Skjerven Gildea campaigned before the September 9 primary is to see how well they performed in their neighborhoods.
Tim Tingelstad was the only challenger to carry his home precinct. In his Bemidji precinct, Judge Tingelstad had 217 votes, compared with 192 votes for Justice Anderson and 16 votes for Alan Lawrence Nelson.
Mr. Nelson finished third in his home precinct in Maplewood. He had 25 votes, compared with 29 for Judge Tingelstad and 104 for Justice Anderson.
Justice Anderson handily carried his home precinct in Inver Grove Heights with 78 votes, compared with 31 votes for Judge Tingelstad and 21 votes for Mr. Nelson.
In the other Supreme Court race, the challengers to Justice Gildea did not come close, even on their own blocks.
Jill Clark finished third in her Golden Valley precinct. She had 46 votes, compared with 105 votes for Justice Gildea, 51 votes for Deborah Hedlund, and 23 votes for Rick Gallo.
Judge Hedlund finished second in her Minnetonka precinct with 49 votes, compared with 92 votes for Justice Gildea, 18 votes for Mr. Gallo, and 17 votes for Ms. Clark.
Mr. Gallo finished second in his St. Paul precinct with 41 votes, compared with 57 votes for Justice Gildea, 36 votes for Ms. Clark, and 28 votes for Judge Hedlund.
Justice Gildea carried her Minneapolis precinct with 136 votes, compared with 48 votes for Judge Hedlund, 30 votes for Ms. Clark, and 14 votes for Mr. Gallo.
Both Justice Anderson and Justice Gildea carried all 87 counties. The only county where a challenger came close was in Judge Tingelstad's Beltrami County.
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