On Tuesday, August 11, 2020, ballots were cast in Fillmore County and Houston County, both with commissioner seats up for grabs.
In Houston County, the seat for County Commissioner for District 1 was on the ballot, and there were a total of 688 registered voters exercising their right to vote.
With 27 precincts reporting, Dewey Severson took more than half of the votes with 344 (50.44%), while Scott Yeiter and incumbent Jack Miller split the remainder with 173 (25.37%) and 165 (24.19%), respectively.
For Fillmore County, with 37 precincts reporting, it was a close race between incumbent Marc Prestby and challenger Tony Webber. A total of 557 ballots were cast with Prestby earning 237, Webber capturing 236, and Vance Haugen walking away with 84 votes.
The general election will take place on Tuesday, November 3, 2020. During the months of September and October, the Fillmore County Journal will publish question and answer information relating to local candidates on the upcoming November election ballot — so readers get better acquainted with each candidate.
Statewide, in the race for U.S. Senator, incumbent Tina Smith (DFL) dominated her field garnering 87.62% (36,962) of her constituents’ votes. Meanwhile, Jason Lewis (R), the first candidate listed on the ballot for the Republican Party, captured the top spot with voters as he earned 70.91% (22,171) of the conservative votes. The showdown on the big stage of the general election will take place between Lewis and Smith on November 3, 2020. There were two marijuana parties on the ballot this year, but their support was up in smoke. The Legal Marijuana Now party sole frontrunner, Kevin O’Connor, rolled up 1,200 votes. The Grassroots — Legalize Cannabis party piped in 476 votes for Oliver Steinberg.