Dahle wins Senate District 20 after ballot recount in three counties
Minnesota Secretary of State Mark Ritchie announced on Tuesday, December 4, that Kevin Dahle (DFL-Northfield) is officially the Senator-elect for District 20, following the meeting of the state canvassing board. A recount was automatically triggered after the general election results showed a narrow margin of victory for Dahle over Mike Dudley (R-New Prague). In Le Sueur and Rice Counties, ballots were hand counted on Thursday, November 29 and in Scott County, auditors counted on Friday, November 30.
The recount showed that Dahle received a total of 20,627 votes and Dudley had 20,556; a gain of six votes for Dudley and the loss of one vote for Dahle.
Auditors in Le Sueur County counted a total of 11,900 ballots, which took four hours to complete. Dudley was the victor in Le Sueur County with 6,067 votes over Dahle with 5,294.
Le Sueur County Finance Director/Election Administrator Carol Blaschko said the recount included both absentee and polling place votes. She added that the process went smoothly for them as they’ve been through several recounts in the past four years.
