Staver Re-Elected and Other Local Election Results
Rochester, MN (KROC-AM News) - There will be a couple new faces on both the Olmsted County Board and Rochester School Board and one new face on the Rochester City Council as a result of the 2016 election.
One of the new faces on the county board will be Gregg Wright, who defeated longtime County Commissioner Paul Wilson by a margin of 57 to 42-percent. Mark Thein also handily defeated incumbent Lou Ohly by a garnering 60-percent of the vote. Commissioners Jim Bier and Stephanie Podulke ran unopposed.
The newcomers on the Rochester School Board are Don Barlow and Mark Schleusner. Barlow defeated incumbent Richard Hinds by a 2 to 1 margin, while Schleusner received 70-percent of the vote to easily defeat Ahmed Ragab for the seat that is being vacated by Dan O’Neil. Incumbent Deborah Seelinger was reelected after turning back a challenge by Bobby Gallas with 56-percent of the vote.
Randy Staver will remain president of the Rochester City Council. He defeated challenger Sean Allen by a 53 to 46-percent margin in what is believed to be the most expensive political race in the history of the City Council. Annalissa Johnson was elected to succeed the retiring Sandra Means by defeating Patrick “PJ” Day 53 to 46-percent for the Sixth Ward seat on the Council. Michael Wojcik won a heated race against challenger Scott Hoss by a 54 to 45-percent margin to retain his seat representing the Second Ward and Mark Bilderback easily won reelection in the Fourth Ward with 68-percent of the vote compared to 30-percent for Nicholas Moucha.
All of the incumbents representing Rochester in the State Legislature easily won re-election, while a former member of the Minnesota legislature was narrowly defeated in the race for the District 25B House seat vacated by Democrat Kim Norton. Republican Fran Bradley lost to Democrat Duane Sauke by fewer than 800 votes.
The preliminary results show almost 90-percent of Olmsted County's' registered voters participated in the election.
Rochester City Council
Council President
Randy Staver 53%
Sean Allen 46%
Ward 2
Michael Wojcik 54%
Scott Hoss 45%
Ward 4
Mark Bilderback 68%
Nicholas Moucha 30%
Ward 6
Annalissa Johnson 53%
Patrick “PJ” Day 46%
Rochester School Board
Position 1
Richard Hinds 32%
Don Barlow 67%
Position 3
Deborah Seelinger 56%
Bobbie Gallas 42%
Position 7
Mark Schleusner 70%
Ahmed Ragab 28%
Olmsted County Board
District 1
Stephanie Podulke (unopposed)
District 3
Paul Wilson 42%
Gregg Wright 57%
District 5
Jim Bier (unopposed)
District 7 10 of 11 precincts
Lou Ohly 39%
Mark Thein 60%
State Legislature
Senate District 25
David Senjem (R) 63%
Dale Amorosia (D) 37%
Senate District 26
Carla Nelson (R) 56%
Rich Wright (D) 44%
House District 25A
Duane Quam (R) 60%
Linda (Wally) Walbruch (D) 40%
House District 25B
Duane Sauke (D) 52%
Fran Bradley (R) 48%
House District 26A
Tina Liebling (D) 60%
Will Waggoner (R) 40%
House District 26B
Nels T. Pierson (R) 59%
John Wayne Austinson (D) 41%