Ettinger, Finstad move on after 1st Congressional primary wins

Published 12:12 am Wednesday, August 10, 2022

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Jeff Ettinger has claimed the Democratic nod in the Congressional District 1 primary Tuesday night.

Ettinger, who is also running to fill out the seat of Rep. Jim Hagedorn, was in the driver’s seat early for the primary, maintaining over 90% of the vote on the Democratic side in Mower and Freeborn counties

He’s headed for a second face-off against Republican Brad Finstad, who was easily winning the Republican nod over Jeremy Munson with over 76% of the vote.

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“I’m honored to receive the backing of voters across southern Minnesota and I look forward to the contest this November for the full two-year to represent the people of Minnesota’s 1st Congressional District,” Finstad said in a statement earlier in the evening. “This win is another step forward in advancing our southern Minnesota values.”

Ettinger won the City of Austin races collecting over 95% in all six precincts. Finstad also easily won the Republican vote with 81.70%.

While the primary results came quickly, however, the wait was on to determine who would round out the rest of Hagedorn’s term leading up to the November election, however, Finstad eventually claimed the special election over Ettinger 60,261 to 55,341 in an unofficial tally that finally came in a little after 1 a.m. in the morning.

Finstad and Ettinger will face each other again in November.

“While the results of the special election are yet to be determined, I’m incredibly grateful for the support of Democrats across the district who believe in our results-oriented, common sense approach to bringing down costs, building resilient communities and strengthening democracy,” Ettinger said in a statement late Tuesday night, prior to results from the special election being released.