Myrtle, MN: amusing results

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

Myrtle is a small town in Freeborn county right near the Iowa border. It consists of a few farms, a bar and a strip club (now you know why I care about it). Population: 67

Anyway, Myrtle is heavily DFL, voted about 75% for Kerry and usually does in similar numbers (the whole area has a strong populist and Democratic tradition). But while checking out their results for this election, I found something that made me chuckle a bit. Check out their latest mayoral election:

Nonpartisan    PATRICIA LAWSON    15   32.61   
Nonpartisan    WILLIAM CHAPEK    13   28.26   
Nonpartisan    DONALD KRAL    1   2.17   
Nonpartisan    DANA WARRINGTON    16   34.78

I don't know what's more amusing, the fact that there was actually 4 candidates (meanwhile Mankato's mayor ran unopposed) or the fact that one guy got only 1 vote. You REALLY have to feel sorry for Donald Kral.

Even more amusing was the results for their City Council. It appears it consists of 2 members elected at large for a 2 year term. But what was the results?

Write-In    WRITE-IN**    33   100.00

You got to wonder why these places just don't disincorporate and let the county government deal with things...

[RBH]

I checked, and that was a City Council Election.

The Mayoral election ended in a 15-13 victory for Larry Prantner over Bernard Meincke, with 2 write-ins.

Anyways, which side won, the pro-strip club side, or the anti-strip club side?

The other results from Myrtle

Sen: 24-6 Klobuchar
Cong: 22-7 Walz
Gov: Hatch 23, Pawlenty 1, Hutchinson 2, Brown 1
AG: Swanson 25, John James 1
County Commissioner District 2: Belshan 28, Curtis Gniffke 1

Belshan won 2077-731 overall

[Gabu]

I don't know what's more amusing, the fact that there was actually 4 candidates (meanwhile Mankato's mayor ran unopposed) or the fact that one guy got only 1 vote.

I think what's more amusing than both of those facts is the fact that 1 vote automatically gets you 2.17% of the vote.  Meanwhile, Libertarian and Green candidates struggle to get over 0.50% of the vote...

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

Anyways, which side won, the pro-strip club side, or the anti-strip club side?

Everyone would have to be pro-strip club, they wouldn't have an economy otherwise basically.

AG: Swanson 25, John James 1
GOP candidate's name corrected

I noticed that too. The GOP candidate actually got 0 votes, John James was the IP candidate. That's pretty much all you need to know to identify that it's heavily Scandinavian (such areas gave Swanson a huge boost, due to her last name)

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

To further explain things, the bar and strip club are right next door. The strip club is non-alcoholic, but if you want to have some drinks, you can just head over to the bar and head back to the strip club.

No strip club = bar loses half its business.

[Alcon]

That's not all that unusual in tiny towns, even the one-vote thing.  I've also seen county commissioner-type positions with easy filing with up to ten candidates, even in relatively small counties.  It's like if your block had elected offices - there's going to be at least one or two crazies, and then two personally opposed candidates who divide the local base.

Loving County, Texas, anyone?

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

Something even more amusing I just discovered, in Glenville (a nearby town of about 300 that I think is Myrtle's default postal address), there are 7 Lutheran churches, but only 1 non-Lutheran church (a Methodist one)

That alone pretty much sums up the area's demographics.

[RBH]

7 Lutheran churches in a 300 person town beats the town of 200 or so with at least 3 churches.

7 Lutheran churches in a 300 person town, they must have had some long-lasting fueds.

[Alcon]

Something even more amusing I just discovered, in Glenville (a nearby town of about 300 that I think is Myrtle's default postal address), there are 7 Lutheran churches, but only 1 non-Lutheran church (a Methodist one)

That alone pretty much sums up the area's demographics.

That's a staggering number of churches.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

Actually, I brought up the wrong town. The population of Glenville is around 700. Considering people from the surrounding townships and other places must go as well (Myrtle has no churches, so anyone who goes probably goes to Glenville), and considering this is rural Minnesota, it's not too shocking.

Of course, I imagine any non-Lutherans in the Glenville area just go to church in Albert Lea.

Here's how Glenville voted btw:

Senate:
Republican    MARK KENNEDY    86   26.14   
Democratic-Farmer-Labor    AMY KLOBUCHAR    229   69.60

House:
Republican    GIL GUTKNECHT    120   36.70   
Democratic-Farmer-Labor    TIM WALZ    207   63.30   

State Senate:
Republican    GEORGE MARIN    91   27.83   
Democratic-Farmer-Labor    DAN SPARKS    236   72.17   

State House:
Republican    MATT BENDA    130   39.88   
Democratic-Farmer-Labor    ROBIN BROWN    195   59.82   

Governor:
Independence    PETER HUTCHINSON AND MAUREEN REED    12   3.66   
Republican    TIM PAWLENTY AND CAROL MOLNAU    109   33.23   
Democratic-Farmer-Labor    MIKE HATCH AND JUDI DUTCHER    204   62.20

Secretary of State:
Independence    JOEL SPOONHEIM    9   2.80   
Republican    MARY KIFFMEYER    103   31.99   
Democratic-Farmer-Labor    MARK RITCHIE    191   59.32   
For Independent Voters    BRUCE KENNEDY    19   5.90

Auditor:
Independence    LUCY GEROLD    14   4.32   
Republican    PATRICIA ANDERSON    95   29.32   
Democratic-Farmer-Labor    REBECCA OTTO    213   65.74   

Attorney General:
Independence    JOHN JAMES    12   3.70   
Republican    JEFF JOHNSON    83   25.62   
Democratic-Farmer-Labor    LORI SWANSON    226   69.75   

The "Scandinavian effect" is still there in the Attorney General's race.

[KEmperor]

They should put the church in the strip club then.  Kill two birds with one stone.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

Freeborn County has a population of only 32,584. Yet it has TWO strip clubs, for an awesome ratio of 16292:1.

Neighboring Mower County (which is even more Democratic) has a population of 38,603, yet also has two strip clubs. That's a ratio of 19302:1. Together, the area has a ratio of 17797:1, which is lower than Minneapolis'.

That's another reason it's such a Freedom Fighting area.

Haha, check out the complete religious breakdown report for Freeborn County:

http://www.thearda.com/mapsReports/reports/counties/27047_2000.asp

Almost half the county's entire population and well over half that are listed as "adherants" are ELCA Lutherans.

[J. J.]

In one democratic primary in the small town where I lived, the result was 78 to 1 for auditor general, out of 80 voters.

[Eraserhead]

I checked, and that was a City Council Election.

The Mayoral election ended in a 15-13 victory for Larry Prantner over Bernard Meincke, with 2 write-ins.

Anyways, which side won, the pro-strip club side, or the anti-strip club side?

The other results from Myrtle

Sen: 24-6 Klobuchar
Cong: 22-7 Walz
Gov: Hatch 23, Pawlenty 1, Hutchinson 2, Brown 1
AG: Swanson 25, John James 1
County Commissioner District 2: Belshan 28, Curtis Gniffke 1

Belshan won 2077-731 overall

Kennedy did way better than Pawlety there? Strange.