Voters in southwest Minnesota's Senate District 15 have elected Republican Braxton Seifert to his first term in the state Senate, according to unofficial results. Seifert, a Marshall bank loan officer and business owner, beat Democratic-Farmer-Labor challenger Andrea Boettger by a wide margin in a district that stretches across several rural counties.
Seifert earned 67% of the vote to Boettger's 33%, with 95% of precincts reporting as of 11:58 p.m. Tuesday, according to the West Central Tribune. Earlier Tuesday night, with 150 of the district's 171 precincts reporting, Seifert already held more than 66% of the vote, according to the Marshall Independent. That outlet reported unofficial totals of 21,260 votes for Seifert against 10,544 for Boettger.
Seifert sought to replace retiring Sen. Gary Dahms, for whom he previously served as campaign manager, the West Central Tribune reports. Dahms' decision not to seek reelection opened the door for his former campaign manager to seek the office himself. Boettger was the DFL candidate.
Who Is the District's New Senator
Before his election, Seifert built his career as a bank loan officer and business owner in Marshall, and the West Central Tribune describes him as a sixth-generation member of a southwest Minnesota family. Boettger brought her own local government experience to the race: she currently serves as president of the New Ulm City Council and works as executive director of New Ulm's Turner Hall, the newspaper reports.
Senate District 15 covers a sprawling stretch of southwest Minnesota, encompassing all of Brown, Lac qui Parle, Lyon, Redwood and Yellow Medicine counties, plus part of southwest Blue Earth County and part of Granite Falls Township in Chippewa County, per the same account. The district also includes the entire city of Granite Falls, which straddles both Chippewa and Yellow Medicine counties.
Candidates Sparred Over Audits and Local Tax Hikes
The two candidates faced off directly at a Wednesday-night forum in Marshall last month, according to the Marshall Independent. At that event, Seifert pitched tighter fiscal oversight of state government, saying, “We need mandatory audits every year,” and backing zero-based budgeting as a way to root out fraud.
Boettger, meanwhile, pointed to the local costs of state mandates, telling the forum that new family and medical leave requirements had already accounted for a 1% increase to the city tax levy in New Ulm. The exchange previewed the fiscal debates Seifert will now carry into his first term representing the district.
A Companion Race Down the Ballot
Voters in the overlapping Minnesota House District 15A also delivered a decisive result for Republicans. Bradley Hennen led DFL candidate Nathan Schmig with more than 66% of the vote, 12,116 votes to 6,171, with 92 of 94 precincts reporting, the Marshall Independent reported. Both Seifert and Hennen carried Lyon County outright, each topping 65% of the vote there.
