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Incumbent District 23A Rep. Peggy Bennett was re-elected to her sixth term in office Tuesday, defeating challenger Joe Staloch.

Bennett, R-Albert Lea, received 15,350 votes, or 67.66%, while Staloch, DFL-Albert Lea, received 7,311 votes, or 32.23%. There were 26 write-in ballots cast for 0.11%.

“I’m excited to be able to represent this area again,” Bennett said. “I just don’t feel like I’m finished yet.”

Bennett, a former elementary school teacher, said in the upcoming session she would like to focus on education, noting if the Republicans gained the majority, she would likely have the opportunity to chair one of the education committees. In the last session she served as minority lead on the K-12 Education Policy Committee.

She said she wants to empower local school districts, while also holding them accountable for things like test results.

Bennett thanked the people of the district for giving her the privilege to serve. She said she thinks government is broken and she hoped that both sides could find things they can all agree on.

She said she plans to continue to work hard to obtain funding for the cities in the district for wastewater treatment plants and other clean water projects, noting these core infrastructure needs are the types of projects that should be included in a bonding bill.

Staloch, who grew up on a family farm outside of Wells, graduated from United South Central in 2002 and works at GigFire in engineering and design of fiber networks.

He said he was not surprised by the outcome of his race and said it tracked as he had expected.

He thanked everyone for their support, whether it was through walking in a parade, filling out postcards or making phone calls.

In what was his first time running for public office of any kind, he said he has learned several things.

“I’ll see where I’m at in terms of my life in two years and maybe give it another go,” Staloch said.

He congratulated Bennett on her re-election and said while he didn’t know what the makeup of the Minnesota House was going to be for the next term, he hoped Bennett would work with other legislators to pass legislation that benefits the area.

District 23A represents the western two-thirds of Freeborn County, west into Faribault County and north into Waseca and Steele County.

See more election results here.