Johnson, Reed prevail in tight District 6 judge race

REGIONAL- The five-man battle for St. Louis County District 6 judge was the only nailbiter in an otherwise relatively mundane Minnesota primary on Tuesday, with four of the five candidates each getting around 20 percent of the vote.
Former Duluth city attorney Gunnar Johnson edged out the pack with 6.547 votes, 23.85 percent of the total number cast. He’ll face runner-up Duluth attorney Shawn Reed in the November general election. Reed captured 6,196 votes, or 22.57 percent. The balloting brought an end to the hopes of Peter Raukar, 21.25 percent, John B. Schulte, 19.85 percent, and Gerald K. Wallace, 12.49 percent, who failed to advance to the runoff.
In the primary for U.S. Senate, incumbent Amy Klobuchar easily outdistanced her DFL opponents with 94.26 percent of the vote. Her Republican challenger in November will be Royce White, who pulled in 38.54 percent of the vote in a crowded eight-person field, easily outdistanced runner-up Joe Fraser with 29.25 percent. White will face an uphill contest against the perennially popular Klobuchar, who has regularly routed Republican challengers throughout her career in the Senate. In Tuesday’s primary, Klobuchar garnered nearly twice as many votes in Tuesday’s primary as all eight GOP candidates combined.
The primary for the U.S. House Eighth District seat sets up a rematch between incumbent Republican Pete Stauber, who raked in 90.49 percent of his party’s vote, and DFL challenger Jen Shultz, who also won in a landslide with 90.96 percent of the vote.
The race to replace retiring District 7B Rep. Dave Lislegard, DFL-Aurora, in the Minnesota House saw Cal Warwas get the Republican nod over Matt Matasich, 84.22 percent to 15.78 percent. DFL candidate Lorrie Janatopoulos was unopposed for the party’s spot in the November general election.
There was no contested primary race in House District 3A, where incumbent Republican Roger Skraba will face off against DFLer Harley Droba in the general election.