More northwest Minnesota voters decided to cast ballots for Democrats in the primary election Tuesday than they did in the general election two years ago.
Nearly two times as many Democrats cast their ballot in Minnesota's primary election than Republicans. Numbers in the northwestern corner were split equally between parties but also show a significant shift in Democratic voter turnout since the 2016 election.
The northwestern portion of the state is traditionally right-leaning, with counties voting overwhelmingly in favor of President Donald Trump in the 2016 election. Democrats accounted for about 48 percent of voters during Tuesday's primary, up from 32 percent of the ballots cast for the party in the 2016 general presidential election.
About 4,329 Republicans showed up at polls in Kittson, Roseau, Marshall, Pennington, Red Lake and Polk counties for Tuesday's primary. Around 4,060 Democrats voted.
Primary winners throughout the state were overwhelmingly announced as champions in most northwestern Minnesota counties, other than the Democratic bid for governor.
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Most counties in the Herald coverage area voted for Lori Swanson, but she was defeated by Tim Walz. Swanson secured the vote in Polk, Kittson, Roseau, Marshall and Red Lake counties, though the vote was often close, with an average difference of 9 percent between the candidates.
Republicans also faced contention in the special election bid for U.S. Senate.
Karin Housley won the nomination statewide with about 62 percent of votes, but it was a close call in most county races. She beat Bob Anderson by only one vote in Kittson county and voters in Polk county cast their ballots for Anderson.
Voter turnout throughout Minnesota was about 22.7 percent, the highest primary turnout since 1994, Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon said in a Tweet. The highest number of voters showed up to the polls since 1982, with 902,119 people voting.
About 8,389 people in the Herald's coverage area voted Tuesday out of the region's 42,740 total registered voters. Turnout was about 19.6 percent.
