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While former President Donald Trump completed an improbable political comeback with a sweeping win that will send him back to the White House, Ely area voters were decidedly split in the presidential race.
Vice President Kamala Harris narrowly carried Ely and had more decisive margins in neighboring Morse, Fall Lake and Eagles Nest townships.
Trump, meanwhile, won Winton easily and 15 miles down the road in Babbitt he captured 64 percent of the vote.
Collectively, the vote total from those six precincts split almost down the middle, with Trump prevailing 2,3562,317, a percentage split of 50.4 to 49.6.
While Trump turned the tables after his loss four years ago to President Joe Biden, winning the popular vote and all seven of the so-called “swing states” to rack up 312 electoral votes, Minnesota stayed in the Harris camp.
Harris, who had Minnesota Governor Tim Walz as her running mate, won Minnesota but by a smaller margin than Biden did in 2020. With nearly all state precincts reporting, Harris maintained a 4.2 percentage point lead in the state.
St. Louis County went for Harris, although the Eighth Congressional District, went decisively for Trump.
In Ely, Trump won both in 2016 and 2020 but Harris had the edge Tuesday, carrying the city 1,049-982 (50.4-47.2 percent).
Harris collected 54 percent of the vote in Morse while winning 512-404 while Fall Lake voters gave Harris a 284-199 (57.4-40.2) edge.
Eagles Nest went 117-98 for Harris, but Winton and Babbitt went overwhelmingly for Trump.
Trump captured a nearly 30 percentage point win in Babbitt while running up a 606-325 advantage, and Winton went 67-30 for the president-elect.
Unlike 2020, when Trump targeted Minnesota as a potential “flip” state, the presidential contest did not attract the attention of the candidates as it did four years ago, when Biden, Trump and former Vice President Mike Pence all stumped in northeastern Minnesota.
Ely voters also weighed in on a major statewide race, won by U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D), who defeated Republican challenger and former pro basketball player Royce White.
There were some similarities to the presidential race, with Klobuchar running several percentage points ahead of Harris in most precincts.
