The Brooklyn Park mayoral special election was decided by one vote, with Lisa Jacobson winning the election with 3,415 votes, beating Hollies Winston, who had 3,414 votes. Winston was backed by the Minnesota DFL and Governor Tim Walz. A vote canvass will be held on Friday night, but because the margin of votes was so small, a recount request is expected. The final results of the election will be certified by August 20. Winston said in a statement, “In the interest of respecting our democratic process we are going to see this through until the end. Every vote must be counted.”
The special election was held after the longtime Brooklyn Park mayor resigned. Jeffrey Lunde resigned from the mayoral position in January after he was elected to the Hennepin County Board.
Korissa Olson, an election judge supervisor for Brooklyn Park in the W-10 precinct, took part in the special election for mayor and said in a comment to The Minnesota Sun that she hopes the whole situation will “encourage more people in the next local election to get out and vote.”
Olson said, “Obviously there’s going to be an automatic recount for the mayoral election with such a small margin.” She said she has full faith in the city clerk’s office to successfully complete a recount.
Olson said, “I think Americans in general believe that their ‘one vote in a sea of millions’ doesn’t really count. However, In a typical election for local positions, you only get about 15% of eligible voter turnout.” Olson explained that since only a small group are voting, it really is a smaller group of people that are the deciding factor on important crucial issues.
She said, “It’s a great lesson on that one vote really mattering. If you look at the election from 2000 when we had Gore and Bush, Gore narrowly lost the electoral college votes in Florida. That small percentage determined the president from 2000 to 2008.”
Olson also shared with The Sun about the importance of taking part in local elections as election judges.
She said, “It’s really great to see people of all backgrounds and nationalities coming together to celebrate our freedom to vote.”
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Hayley Tschetter is a reporter with The Minnesota Sun | The Star News Network. Follow Hayley on Twitter or like her Facebook page. Send news tips to [email protected].
Photo “Lisa Jacobson” by Lisa Jacobson. Photo “Hollies Winston” by Hollies Winston.
