8:59: MinnesotaBrown projects DFLer Carly Melin to win District 5B House race with just under 60 percent.
8:51: Large, important bird has told me Melin wins Fredenberg. It’s all over.
8:50: Napkin math time. Might have big announcement soon.
8:45: Jacobson wins first precinct in Halden, 18-16 (votes), but that’s not enough. Loses Alborn, McDavitt and other lowland townships. Fredenberg can’t save him now.
8:38: Melin wins Solway, Balkan. More shortly…
8:33: The night is trending toward Carly Melin. Paul Jacobson still has some conservative townships left to report, but probably not enough to close the gap. He needed to keep in close in Hibbing but Melin has held the DFL line there. Waiting on a couple more key precincts to make projection.
8:27: So many numbers. Haven’t got them all below yet, but Melin HQ spotters report more than 50 percent in with Carly Melin running at 60 percent. That includes most of Hibbing and Chisholm.
8:25: Hit refresh to see updates. They’ll be coming fast and furious through the 8 p.m. hour.
8: 21: The voters of House District 5B have elected their next representative. The polls have closed and tonight we wait for their verdict. I’ll be live blogging until such time as it is safe to declare a winner. I am hearing of higher than expected turnout, which necessitated copy ballots and hand counting in townships like Cherry, Grand Lake and Fredenberg. Those may take a while. Some early Hibbing numbers are in.
Numbers below are unofficial. More at the Secretary of State’s site. Precinct results here.
Alborn
Melin 59; Jacobson 17; Kafut-Hagen 1
Cherry
Melin 143; Jacobson 64; Kafut-Hagen 4
Balkan
Melin 150; Jacobson 86; Kafut-Hagen 6
Chisholm
Melin 628; Jacobson 255; Kafut-Hagen 37; Absentees to count 80
Floodwood 1
Melin 52; Jacobson 13; Kafut-Hagen 1
Floodwood 2
Melin 27; Jacobson 27; Kafut-Hagen 0
Halden
Melin 16; Jacobson 18; Kafut-Hagen2
Hibbing P1
Melin 109; Jacobson 26; Kafut-Hagen 9
Hibbing P3
Melin 107; Jacobson 87; Kafut-Hagen37
Hibbing P5
Melin 263; Jacobson 137; Kafut-Hagen 22
Hibbing P6
Melin 125; Jacobson 72; Kafut-Hagen 11
Hibbing P8
Melin 122; Jacobson 72; Kafut-Hagen 6
Hibbing P10
Melin 347; Jacobson 229; Kafut-Hagen 30
Hibbing P11
Melin 394; Jacobson 288; Kafut-Hagen 32
McDavitt Township (Zim!)
Melin 79; Jacobson 40; Kafut-Hagen 1
Solway
Melin 161; Jacobson 96; Kafut-Hagen 8
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Looks like it’s not even close! This election, our Gov. proposing a move toward equalizing tax rates, and WI capitol shut down by protesters, yes, all in all, a good day…