How St. Michael Voted in the 2012 Election

If you were a Republican or a familiar face, chances are you did well in the Nov. 6 election here in St. Michael.

Voters at both St. Michael precincts broke in huge numbers for former Gov. Mitt Romney of Massachusetts and Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan when it came to the presidential ticket, while Rep. Michele Bachmann and state candidates Mary Kiffmeyer and David Fitzsimmons also fared well.

In Precinct 1A (west St. Michael), Romney/Ryan received 62 percent of the vote, or about 2,400 votes, compared to 1,378 for the eventual winner, President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden.

In Precinct 1B (east St. Michael), the GOP ticket picked up 3,343 votes, compared to 1,817 for Obama/Biden.

The only Democrat to get traction in St. Michael was incumbent Sen. Amy Klobuchar, who picked up 53 percent in Precinct 1A, and 52 percent in 1B, en route to a landslide statewide victory over challenger Kurt Bills. The race was called 8 minutes after the polls closed.

Michele Bachmann's bid for re-election in the Sixth District got a bump from St. Michael, as the west precinct gave her a near 400-vote advantage (2,053 to 1,672) over challenger Jim Graves of the DFL. Bachmann won the west side by more than 600 votes (2,848-2,207) as she eeked out a 51-49 percent vote districtwide.

Graves conceded Wednesday morning.

Closer to home, former Albertville Mayor Mike Potter and former Frankfort Township (now part of St. Michael) supervisor Mark Daleiden received huge bumps from St. Michael voters in their race for Wright County Commission. Daleiden, in fact beat challenger Tom Darkenwald by more than 2,000 votes in St. Michael's 1B precinct.

City council members Chris Schumm and Joe Marx were elected by heavy margins. Both were "incumbents" of sorts, after having been appointed to their seats orginally. Challenger Cody Gulick was the only candidate to get close, but lost on the west side by 500 votes.

And all three incumbent school board members - Jeanne Holland, Drew Scherber and Carol Steffens, edged Jim Shovelain in each precint.

As for the statewide amendments, St. Michael voters supported both the Voter I.D. law, which would have required photo identification at the polls, and the so-called Marriage Amendment, which would have defined marriage as between one man and one woman in the state's constitution. Both amendments failed at the state level.

For more on how the candidates did, click on any of the links in this story, or check our state and local election hub articles.