Elmore Mayor Bjorn Olson won a Republican primary vote over opponent Michael Sukalski on Tuesday night. With 100 percent of precincts reporting, Olson netted 58 percent of the vote to Sukalski’s 42 percent in the party battle for the District 23A seat in the Minnesota House of Representatives. Both men were seeking to replace state Rep. Bob Gunther, R-Fairmont, who is retiring after 25 years representing the area. Olson had the party’s endorsement, but Sukalski, an engineer in Fairmont, challenged him based on a technical glitch at a May 19 “virtual” district convention. Olson garnered 2,447 votes and Sukalski 1,807. Voter turnout in the district was 25 per cent. Olson will now face D F L candidate Pat Bacon in the General Election on Nov.3. Bacon had no opposition in Tuesday’s Primary.
