DULUTH — DFL candidate Grant Hauschild has clinched the closely-watched Minnesota Senate District 3 race, narrowly defeating Babbitt Mayor Andrea Zupancich to replace retiring Sen. Tom Bakk.
Hauschild won with a 1.6% margin. The Associated Press called the race Thursday morning.
The District 3 seat is a rare opening that covers a vast section of the Arrowhead region. Voters in the district were nearly evenly split between Joe Biden and Donald Trump in 2020.
On Twitter, Hauschild said he was "humbled" and thanked his supporters.
"You believed we could win this incredibly competitive district, and we did," he said.
Hermantown voter Kelly Peterson said her primary concerns Tuesday were women's rights and those of educators to teach the truth. She voted for Hauschild because he seems moderate, she said.
"We do need moderate people to bring people together," Peterson said.
Hauschild, a Hermantown city councilor and foundation director for Essentia Health, has worked on labor and agriculture issues in Washington and supports mining. He was endorsed by Doug Johnson, the senator who served the region for decades before Bakk.
