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by Nick Wognum
There will be two new faces on the Babbitt city council after Tuesday’s general election.
Andrea Zupancich will return as mayor following a 515398 over Joe White who will retain his seat on the council.
Duane Lossing will go from mayor to council member after receiving the most votes on Tuesday. Lossing finished with 569 votes, far outpacing the competition. Joining Lossing will be John Fitzpatrict who won a council seat with 310 votes.
Not making the cut were Terry Switajewski with 239 votes and Craig Warlof with 213 votes.
The biggest surprise was the totals for the two incumbents who were looking to retain their council seats.
Paul Hoheisel finished with 193 votes and Glenn Anderson came in sixth with 151 votes.
Zupancich, Lossing and Fitzpatrick will be sworn in to their terms in January. They will join Jim Lassi and White. Council terms are for four years while the mayor’s seat is a twoyear term.
While Minnesota stayed in the blue column for Kamala Harris, Babbitt was a strong Trump town, backing Republicans in each race.
Babbitt voters chose winner Donald Trump 606-325. While Amy Klobuchar (D) easily held on to her U.S. Senate seat, in Babbitt she lost 516-373 to Republican Royce White.
U.S. Rep. Pete Stauber (R) again beat Jen Schultz (D), helped by a 632-299 win in Babbitt.
State Rep. Roger Skraba (R-Ely) easily won re-election over Harley Droba including a 610-279 margin in Babbitt.
In a non-partisan race, Chris Koivisto held on to his seat on the St. Louis County school board, picking up 510 votes in Babbitt with challenger Leigh Backe tallying 332 votes. It was a 954-559 win for Koivisto overall.
Babbitt followed the trend of high voter turnout in the area.
There were 1,047 registered voters at the beginning of the day in Babbitt. A total of 947 votes were cast in the presidential race including absentee votes and newly registered voters.
