Four sitting sheriffs in southeastern Minnesota counties were ousted by voters Tuesday; three were beaten by challengers from their own departments and one was beaten by a State Patrol officer.
The Rochester Post Bulletin outlined the arresting developments:
- Olmsted County Sheriff Dave Mueller lost to Capt. Kevin Torgerson by a large margin: 31,237 to 14,504
- In Dodge County, Sheriff Jim Jensen lost a closer race to Scott Rose, a sheriff’s department investigator: 3,711 to 3,326
- Freeborn County Sheriff Bob Kindler lost to Kurt Freitag, one of his deputies: 6,500 to 5,505
- Houston County Sheriff Doug Ely lost to State Patrol trooper Mark Inglett: 4,847 to 2,894
It wasn’t all bad news for sheriffs in that part of the state, the paper said:
- Wabasha County Sheriff Rodney Bartsh beat Scott O’Hara, a former St. Paul police detective.
- Goodhue County Sheriff Scott McNurlin was unopposed and received 14,500 votes
- Mower County Sheriff Terese Amazi was unopposed and received 10,427 votes.
