2022 MN 1st District Special Primary: Election Results

ROCHESTER, MN — Former Hormel Foods CEO Jeff Ettinger is projected to be the Democratic nominee for the 1st District special election in southern Minnesota. However, there is no clear winner yet in the Republican race.

With all precincts reporting Wednesday morning, former state representative Brad Finstad has 13,835 votes, while current state Rep. Jeremy Munson has 13,446 votes.

Finstad and Munson are separated by just over 1 percent. That’s outside the 0.25 percent margin that would require a recount. As of 8 a.m., the Associated Press has not yet called the Republican race yet.

However, Finstad has declared victory "for our Southern Minnesota values."

A total of 20 candidates from the state's four major parties were hoping to win the seat that was vacated by the late Rep. Jim Hagedorn, a Republican. Former President Donald Trump declined to make an endorsement in the race.

Hagedorn, 59, died of cancer in February. He represented Minnesota's 1st District from 2018 until his death. Gov. Tim Walz set the special primary election for May 24, in accordance with state law.

Hagedorn's wife and former Minnesota Republican Party chairwoman Jennifer Carnahan was among the 20 candidates on Tuesday's ballot. Carnahan came in a distant third among Republicans, however.

The Republican primary victor will face off against Ettinger in August to determine who will serve out the final months of Hagedorn’s term.

Live election vote totals - unofficial

Precincts Reporting in Contest: 100% 697 of 697

Grassroots — Legalize Cannabis

• Haroun McClellan: 202

Legal Marijuana Now

• Richard B. Reisdorf: 369

Republicans

• Bob "Again" Carney Jr.: 216
• Kevin Kocina: 986
• Jeremy Munson: 13,447
• Nels Pierson: 1,925
• J.R. Ewing: 157
• Brad Finstad: 13,835
• Roger Ungemach: 163
• Jennifer Carnahan: 2,918
• Matt Benda: 2,647
• Ken Navitsky: 129

Democrats

• Warren Lee Anderson: 385
• Sarah Brakebill-Hacke: 2,524
• James Rainwater: 460
• Jeff Ettinger: 12,261
• Richard W. Painter: 1,740
• George H. Kalberer: 144
• Rick DeVoe: 392
• Candice Deal-Bartell: 1,177

Hagedorn was diagnosed with stage IV kidney cancer in February 2019 and received continued care and immunotherapy at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester. In July 2021, the congressman announced that kidney cancer had resurfaced.

Because Hagedorn died before his term was up, the race Tuesday is being held in the old 1st District boundaries. The district will vote again in August for a special general election, in which the candidate who will finish the last few months of Hagedorn’s term will be chosen.

Then, a November election will be held in the new boundaries that were drawn after the 2020 Census. That election will determine who holds the officer from 2023 through 2026.

Reporting from the Associated Press was used in this story.