Elementary school teacher Peggy Bennett defeated incumbent House District 27A Rep. Shannon Savick on Tuesday in what has historically been one of the state’s swing districts.

Bennett, R-Albert Lea, received 1,829 more votes than Savick, DFL-Wells, with 7,318 votes and 5,489 votes respectively. Independence Party candidate Tom Price of rural Alden received 925 votes, or 7 percent.

“I am awestruck. I’m humbled. I’m thankful,” said Bennett, who teaches first-grade at Sibley Elementary. “It’s really an amazing feeling.”

The race has drawn state leaders, including gubernatorial candidates, to town in recent weeks to rally for the candidates. Outside groups have also spent big money on the candidates as both sides struggled for power in the state Legislature.

Bennett thanked Savick, individually, for running a clean campaign.

“My heart goes out to her because I know how hard she worked,” she said. “I know how hard I worked.”

Though they were in two separate rooms at America’s Best Value Inn most of the night, Savick came over to Bennett in the room set up for Republicans to shake Bennett’s hand, and the two ultimately hugged.

Bennett, who has been teaching for 33 years, has been on a leave this fall for her campaign. Upon hearing the election results Tuesday, she said she will most likely retire from teaching to become a full-time representative.

She campaigned on putting people before politics and being able to stand up for the needs of District 27A, even if she has to go against her party. She said jobs, health care, education and property taxes are the top concerns she’s heard from residents she has met with, and these concerns in turn became some of the top priorities in her campaign.

Savick, 74, was the former mayor of Wells in 2009 and 2010 and is retired from a high-technology industry. She said though she was disappointed in the results, she was proud of her record while in office.

“I did get a lot of stuff done for 27A and made a lot of new friends,” she said.

She helped secure funding for several local projects, including $7.5 million to dredge Fountain Lake, $433,000 to extend the Blazing Star Trail from Myre-Big Island State Park to Hayward and $700,000 for the installation of a fish barrier on the Albert Lea Lake dam. Riverland Community College also received $1.7 million, Blooming Prairie received $230,000 and Albert Lea Lake received $172,000. She received statewide recognition for creating a pilot program to help recruit firefighters and emergency responders through a $500 stipend from the state.

Savick said she plans to travel and visit friends and simply enjoy retired life.

As she prepares for her first legislative session, Bennett said she hopes to first look into some of the state’s priorities and discover its needs versus wants.

She said she wants her students to be able to enjoy the same state and country that she grew up in.

She joked that she needed to start looking for a place in St. Paul that would allow her 110-pound dog, Colter, who was made famous earlier this year on Fox & Friends.

She has trained the dog to read and obey simple cue cards and uses him as a motivation for her students to read and write in the classroom.

District 27A encompasses all of Freeborn County and portions of Faribault, Mower, Dodge and Steele counties. The district swings back to Republican control after swinging to DFL control two years ago. Going back, it was Republican for two years and DFL for four years. Before the 2006 election, the district had been long held by Republicans.

Price this morning referenced a forum in July that asked each of the candidates to choose who they would vote for if they could not vote for themselves.

He said he would have voted for Peggy Bennett for many reasons, including that she is pro-life. He was happy to see that two out of the three candidates for the office were pro-life.

“My hat’s off to both of them,” Price said. “I know how much work it involves with running for office, and I’ve got nothing bad to say about either one of them. I know they’re exhausted as I am.”

 

*incumbent

Other results from House races statewide:

• Jon Applebaum, Dem, elected State House, District 44B, Minnesota.

• Mark Uglem, GOP, elected State House, District 36A, Minnesota.

• Ryan Winkler, Dem, elected State House, District 46A, Minnesota.

• Jim Nash, GOP, elected State House, District 47A, Minnesota.

• Ron Erhardt, Dem, elected State House, District 49A, Minnesota.

• Dave Pinto, Dem, elected State House, District 64B, Minnesota.

• Tim Mahoney, Dem, elected State House, District 67A, Minnesota.

• Erin Murphy, Dem, elected State House, District 64A, Minnesota.

• Rena Moran, Dem, elected State House, District 65A, Minnesota.

• Carlos Mariani, Dem, elected State House, District 65B, Minnesota.

• John Lesch, Dem, elected State House, District 66B, Minnesota.

• Cindy Pugh, GOP, elected State House, District 33B, Minnesota.

• Jason Isaacson, Dem, elected State House, District 42B, Minnesota.

• Peggy Bennett, GOP, elected State House, District 27A, Minnesota.

• Ben Lien, Dem, elected State House, District 4A, Minnesota.

• Mary Murphy, Dem, elected State House, District 3B, Minnesota.

• Bud Nornes, GOP, elected State House, District 8A, Minnesota.

• Mary Franson, GOP, elected State House, District 8B, Minnesota.

• Sheldon Johnson, Dem, elected State House, District 67B, Minnesota.

• Alice Hausman, Dem, elected State House, District 66A, Minnesota.

• Paul Rosenthal, Dem, elected State House, District 49B, Minnesota.

• Clark Johnson, Dem, elected State House, District 19A, Minnesota.

• Jack Considine, Dem, elected State House, District 19B, Minnesota.