Editor's note: Beltrami County officials announced on Wednesday morning that due to an error some absentee ballots were not correctly added to the Secretary of State's website, causing counts to be listed inaccurately. Vote totals now reflect the official numbers in the At-Large race.
BEMIDJI -- Daniel Jourdain and Dave Larson will advance to a runoff election for the Bemidji City Council's at-large seat.
The special election for the seat opened up in June after former at-large council member Jim Thompson announced he was stepping down due to health reasons.
Four candidates were vying for the seat, but since none of them received more than 50% of the vote, it will go to another special election in early 2021.
Larson received 35.76%of the vote while Jourdain had 29.54%. The two topped Linda Lemmer, receiving 21.84%, and Roger Schmidt with12.86%.
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Jourdain, 35, is a newcomer to Bemidji politics with a background in law enforcement. He is running with the goal of becoming more involved in the community.
“One of the big things I think we need to do is build bridges for the community, actually listen to the voices of our community members," Jourdain said in mid-October. "I believe that we need to build better partnerships with the diverse and ethnic populations, with my law enforcement background, I think that public safety is a No. 1 priority.”
Larson, 76, is a former mayor of Bemidji, and sees this as a time help build up the economy in Bemidji.
“There are multiple things we need to work on involving the city," Larson said in the Pioneer's Voter's Guide. "There are economical and social issues, and we need to get to things like housing and homelessness. I just want to make sure the city is run in a fiscally responsible and socially responsible manner.”
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RELATED: Read up on local candidates ahead of Election Day here
