Moorhead and Clay County incumbents swept nearly all contests on Tuesday’s election ballot, with newcomers winning seats in only the races without a returning candidate.
The vote tallies showed only one exception to that rule. In Moorhead’s Ward 1, city council challenger Nicole Mattson topped incumbent first-term council member Matt Gilbertson in what can be called a “squeaker.” Mattson’s total exceeded Gilbertson’s by just 55 votes – 50.41% to his 49.13%.
In southeast Moorhead’s Ward 4, incumbent Sebastian McDougall dominated challenger Zak Amin, 58.% to Amin’s 41.4%. McDougall was appointed to the city council in 2023 to fill the seat vacated by Steve Lindaas.
Without incumbents, Wards 2 and 3 brought new names to the ballot. Three candidates vied to replace retiring Laura Caroon in Ward 2. Emily Moore easily landed the council seat, with 50% of the 4,275 votes cast. Benjamin Hammer received 32%, and Kassandra Sofferman got 17%.
Former judge Lisa Borgen will replace Larry Seljevold in Ward 3. She received 61% of votes, while her opponent Noelle Harden got 38%.
Only one of the three open seats on the Clay County Commission was up for a vote. In District 5, incumbent David Ebinger easily topped challenger Joel Paulsen with 58%, or 2,857 votes, to Paulsen’s 41%, or 2,000. District 1 commissioner Paul Krabbenhoft and District 2 newcomer Ezra Baer each ran unopposed. Baer will serve the area formerly represented by Frank Gross.
The same trend – reelection of incumbents – tells the story in Independent School District 152, which serves Moorhead, part of Dilworth and the surrounding rural area. Cassidy Bjorklund, Scott Steffes, Melissa Burgard and Matt Valan will continue on the school board, receiving 9,199, 9,102, 8667 and 8,537 votes respectively – 15 to 16% of the total cast. Challenger Marissa Ahlering came closest of the three challengers with 8,286, or 14.94%. Mark Rice received 6,799 (11.9%), and Azad Berwari, 6,019 (10.5%).
But the school district’s proposed tax levy – intended to fill a $9.5 gap in funding – went down to defeat. According to complete but unofficial totals, 11,090, or 51.41% of district residents, voted against the measure, while 48.58% (10,476) cast “yes” ballots.
DFLer Heather Keeler and Republican Jim Joy were re-elected to the Minnesota House of Representatives in Districts 4A and 4B, Keeler with 58.5% and Joy with 66% of votes cast in each of their districts. Their challengers, Joshua Zincke and Thaddeus Laugisch, received 41.3% and 33.5%.
U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar, who was first elected to the Senate in 2006, will return for a sixth term, with 56% of Minnesota voters favoring her over Republican Royce White. Michelle Fischbach will continue to represent Minnesota District 7 in the U.S. House of Representatives. The incumbent Republican defeated DFL candidate AJ Peters by a margin of 70.4% to 29.4%.