There were 20,114 residents of Mower County registered to vote in the Sept. 10 state primary election when polls opened.

Another 243 registered on election day.

A total of 216 absentee ballots were cast. Two of them came from overseas.

The total number of voters casting ballots Sept. 10 in Mower County was 5,169.

That means, 25 percent of the registered voters cast ballots in the state primary election.

The official vote counts have been canvassed by local units of government and the abstract of votes cast offers much to study for candidates and their campaign committees preparing for the Nov. 5 state general election.

While Mower County's 25 percent vote total may not be the desired level of citizen participation sought, it still was higher than the state's 18 percent average.

When the November general election day arrives, Mower County voters will be asked to decide five contested races. City of Austin voters will also have four city mayoral and council races to decide plus an Austin Utilities Board race, involving three candidates for two seats on the board.

Add to those races, a gubernatorial race and a U.S. Senate race.

Here are some other Mower County state primary election numbers to crunch in the next six weeks:

Senate District 27

Incumbent State Sen. Grace Schwab, R-Albert Lea, and DFL-endorsed challenger Dan Sparks, of Austin, have gotten most of the attention, but there is another local candidate.

That is Terry Kelley, the former television anchorman, who switched from DFL Party when he didn't receive the endorsement, and chose to run as an Independence Party candidate.

Despite receiving the Independence Party's endorsement, Kelley had to withstand a primary election challenge from Jennifer LeeAnn Ney.

Kelley tallied 1,442 votes compared to 530 for Ney, a 73 to 27 percent margin for Kelley.

Kelley's nearly 3-1 vote margin held firm in two of the three Senate District 28 counties: 510 to 177 in Mower County and 915 to 340 in Freeborn County; plus 17 to 13 in Fillmore County. The senate district includes only the western half of Fillmore County.

Since the Sept. 10 defeat, Ney has announced she will run as a write-in candidate for the Green Party in November.

Two years ago, Schwab won over long-time incumbent state senator Pat Piper and wrestled the senate seat away from the DFL Party.

Schwab carried Freeborn County by a healthy margin, but won in Mower County by only a slight margin.

This year, the DFL is targeting Freeborn County with thousands of dollars in advertising to help Sparks regain the senate seat for the party.

Democrats are also working hard to ensure their party faithful vote.

Neither Schwab nor Sparks had opposition Sept. 10, but the Democrat out-polled the Republican.

The same held true for DFL candidates in State House Districts 27A and 27B races, plus the gubernatorial contest among three high-profile candidates and the U.S. Senate race between incumbent Paul Wellstone and Republican challenger Norm Coleman.

Austin 'influence'

Once again, the "power" of the city of Austin stood out in an election.

The most telling example occurred in 1994, when an Austin police officer beat a 16-year incumbent Mower County Sheriff to win the election.

Barry J. Simonson was an Austin patrolman, who became the Drug Abuse Resistance Education program's coordinator in the department. Simonson "won" the city, while incumbent Wayne P. Good nature "won" the county. The city votes outnumbered the county votes.

The disparity between registered voters in Austin and the rest of Mower County creates a simple strategy for county office-seekers: win in Austin and win the entire county.

Of the 20,357 people registered to vote in the Sept. 10 state primary election, 11,374 voted in the city's six precincts.

That's 55 percent of the total number of registered votes in Mower County.

Add to the city totals, the number of registered voters in Mapleview, plus Austin, Lansing, Red Rock and Windom townships and the number of registered voters swells to 13,483 with another 2,109 registered voters.

That's 66 percent of the registered voters from 39 precincts.

County races

Challenger Dick Lang was the leading vote-getter in the state primary election for Mower County Commissioner 4th District

with 471 votes: 198 coming in the city's Ward 3, Precinct 1 and 273 coming in Ward 3, Precinct 2.

Len Miller, a two-term incumbent 4th district county commissioner, collected 252 votes:, 94 in Ward 3, Precinct 1, and 188 in Ward 3, Precinct 2.

Donna J. Olson collected 202 votes: 82 in Ward 3, Precinct 1, and 120 in Ward 3, Precinct 2.

Sheriff's race

Terese Amazi was the leading vote-getter in the Mower County Sheriff's primary contest.

Amazi collected 3,213 votes.

Amazi led all contestants in 38 of 39 voting precincts.

Second-place finisher, Todd Clennon received 1,199 votes. Clennon edged Amazi in Windom Township: 22 to 20 with 9 votes for Michael Cherney.

An Adams City Council member, Cherney was able to finished second in the city of Adams voting precinct, where Amazi netted 81 votes to 38 for Cherney and 36 for Clennon, an Austin Police Department officer.

In Adams Township, Cherney collected 8 votes to 37 for Amazi and nine for Clennon.

Slim vote margin

In still another hotly contested Mower County race, Patrick W. Flanagan topped three candidates for Mower County Attorney.

Flanagan tallied 1,921 votes compared to 1,847 for incumbent Mower County Attorney Patrick A. Oman.

Jonathan Olson, an Assistant Mower County Attorney, finished third with 1,167 votes.

How did the upstart Flanagan defeat both his own boss and a chief deputy prosecutor? Answer: By winning in both the city and outlying precincts.

Again, the power and influence of the city's voter turnout is borne out in the county attorney's race results.

Oman won 22 voting precincts to 14 for Flanagan and two for Olson.

Flanagan's leading vote-getter status -- actually a slim 74-vote margin -- came, in part, from winning in the power precincts of Austin Ward 1, Precinct 1, Austin Ward 2, Precinct 1, Austin Ward 3, Precinct 2, plus Austin, Lansing and Red Rock townships.

Oman won in all the other "power" precincts.

However, Flanagan faltered in Pleasant Valley Township, where he did not receive a single vote.

Oman got at least one vote in all 39 voting precincts.

In the only township to see Oman and Flanagan tie for the top spot, it was Sargeant Township where each candidate received 12 votes to 11 for Olson.

Olson was blanked in only one precinct, Lyle Township. He was the leading vote-getter in the city of Sargeant, where he received six votes to five for Oman and two for Flanagan, and Windom Township where he received 19 votes to 16 for Flanagan and 14 for Oman.

Vote totals were provided by Mower County Auditor's office staff.

Lee Bonorden can be contacted at 434-2232 or by e-mail at :mailto:lee.bonorden@austindailyherald.com