On August 11, 2026, the votes were collected and tallied for the Primary Election to determine who will have their name on the ballot for Election Day on November 3.
History will be made in Minnesota, as two women will face-off for the governor’s race for the first time. Lisa Demuth (GOP) drew 43.44% of the votes from her constituents, beating out the Trump-favored “My Pillow” guy Mike Lindell. Amy Klobuchar (DFL) made light work of the primary, reeling in 89.69% support from her voter base. Demuth and Klobuchar will be making history no matter who prevails.
If we look closer at Fillmore and Houston County voters, the numbers look different than the rest of the State of Minnesota. Mike Lindell was the lead gubernatorial candidate in Houston County with 38.79% of the votes. In Fillmore County, Lindell was the lead dog with 40.69% of the votes. Klobuchar held strong in both counties.
For U.S. Senator, Peggy Flanagan (DFL) will go head-to-head with Michelle Tafoya (GOP). Tafoya won her party with 52.07% of the votes and Flanagan tallied 59.01% of her constituents.
In Fillmore County, with long-time County Commissioner Duane Bakke choosing not to run for another term, the door opened for a few opponents to throw their name in the hat.
Shona Langseth won 436 votes, Justin Redalen tallied 318 votes, and Dan Schmidt finished with 185 votes. Shona won big in Lanesboro and Preston, while Redalen finished strong in Fountain and four out of five townships. Langseth and Redalen will go head-to-head on the ballot for the District 4 County Commissioner seat.
There were two special elections for township supervisor seats. Shawn Merkel won for Bloomfield Township and Mason Henry won for Canton Township.
For Spring Valley (council member at large), Luan Ruesink, Brent Kohn and Greg Melartin earned a spot on the ballot come November 3. The voters in Spring Valley will be electing two out of these three candidates to serve on the council.
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