Duluth is one step away from winning an online voting challenge for the best outdoorsy town in the United States.
The city emerged late Sunday as one of two finalists for the championship in Outside magazine's Best Town 2014 contest. Now it is facing Provo, Utah, for the crown.
Duluth beat Asheville, N.C., with 68 percent of the vote in the final four round, which ended at 11 p.m. Sunday, getting 28,371 online votes compared to 13,391.
City boosters have been promoting a vigorous #VoteDuluth campaign on social media. Monday morning, Sen. Amy Klobuchar put out a tweet saying: "We know @cityofduluth is a great place. Make sure everyone knows! Vote Duluth in @outsidemagazine 's Best Towns 2014!" Mayor Don Ness also has been tweeting about it, and Sen. Al Franken has urged votes for Duluth.
Throughout the contest, Duluth has typically emerged as the town with the most votes of any, but it may need to rally more clicks for the finals. In the last round, Provo got 34,981 votes to beat Ithaca, N.Y., which received 33,342 votes.
The championship round goes until 10:59 p.m. Sunday.
Pam Louwagie
