Incumbent Paul Wilson and challenger Gregg Wright will move on to the Nov. 6 general election as candidates for the District 3 seat of the Olmsted County Board of Commissioners.
Wilson, who has held the seat since 1994, captured almost 63 percent of the votes in Tuesday's primary election and will be facing Wright, who finished with nearly 29 percent. The third candidate, Loren Skudlarek, finished with just over 8 percent.
Talking after most of the precincts in District 3 had reported their votes and Wilson was the clear winner, he said he was a little anxious during the day Tuesday because he didn't assume he'd win.
"I take nothing for granted, I never have," Wilson said. "In the past, when I door knocked, sometimes I did it in years when I didn't have an opponent. But I still did it to get a feel for what people are thinking about. And I'll continue that."
Wilson, who works at Carousel Floral, also said he is looking forward to a "good, positive campaign" against Wright, a guidance counselor at Rochester Community and Technical College.
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Speaking from his home Tuesday night, Wright said he thought he did pretty well, considering he is new on the county board scene and doesn't have much name recognition.
Also, he said the results of the District 3 and District 6 primary elections show voters don't want "career politicians" because longtime board commissioner Dave Perkins was knocked out of the race and Wilson captured fewer votes during this primary than he did in his last primary.
"People are looking for fresh ideas and a fresh face," Wright said. "So, I will work very hard to get my name out there and work on the issues I've been talking about at the door."
Having come up with so few votes Tuesday, Skudlarek said he was feeling disappointed and amazed by the amount of work it takes to achieve name recognition in the community.
"It's a real difficult thing to do. I guess I'm learning how the process works. But I'm amazed how much work it takes to get 60-some percent of the votes. And Gregg didn't have a single sign out there, but he must have knocked on every door in the district," Skudlarek said.
