ROCHESTER — DFL challenger Jake Johnson held a razor-thin 49.99% to 49.89% lead over GOP incumbent Rep. Brad Finstad, with all precincts reporting as of 2:30 a.m. Wednesday, according to election results posted by the Minnesota Secretary of State's office. The close margin will likely trigger an automatic recount.
Johnson was behind the two-term Republican for most of Tuesday night and early Wednesday morning, closing the gap as the last precincts reported. Johnson edged ahead of Finstad with the reporting of the last 10 precincts, all in Olmsted County and six within Rochester, territory favorable to Johnson. A mere 324 votes separated the two major-party candidates.
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“When we started this campaign a year and a half ago, the pundits ran the numbers and they said we had no shot. But the people of southern Minnesota didn’t care about those pundits. We showed up and built something nobody thought was possible,” Johnson said in a statement early Wednesday morning.
Johnson said he was grateful to his family, team and the "thousands of volunteers, donors, and neighbors" across the district.
"Now I’m ready to get to work bringing down costs, taking on corruption, and investi...