DFL Rep. Brad Tabke picks up one vote over Republican Aaron Paul after 54A recount

DFL Rep. Brad Tabke widened his lead over Republican Aaron Paul by one vote following a recount of nearly 22,000 ballots in a closely watched Minnesota House race.

Julie Hanson, Scott County’s property and customer service manager, announced the unofficial results hours after people began hand-counting stacks of paper ballots cast in the contest for the 54A seat, which encompasses the Shakopee area.

At the recount’s conclusion, Tabke had 10,980 votes to Paul’s 10,965. Four of the votes included in the total count are challenged. The Scott County canvassing board will determine the disposition of those ballots at 2 p.m. Monday, the same day the board will certify the 54A race’s results.

The 54A race has been closely watched since election night. Before the recount, unofficial results showed Tabke with a 14-vote lead over Paul. Tabke is a former Shakopee mayor first elected in 2018 who has served two nonconsecutive terms, while Paul is a Bloomington police officer.

The narrow margin between candidates was within the threshold of 0.5% set by state law for an automatic recount in a state legislative race. The hand recount, for which Scott County received an official request, was open to the public and took place in the Scott County Government Center.

Spectators — including a Shakopee City Council contender, school board officials, DFLers and Republicans — stood watch over a procedure that began at 8:30 a.m. and stretched into the afternoon.

After the canvassing board certifies the results, candidates have seven days to file an election challenge in the courts.

As part of the recount, people parsed the stacks of paper for any irregularities, including ballots with partly completed bubbles or those with too many bubbles filled in.

Hanson said officials identified a handful of challenged ballots, which Scott County will send to the canvassing board for a final disposition.

The recount is the latest development in the contest for control of the Minnesota House. DFLers and Republicans will each hold 67 seats if results ultimately break in favor of Tabke and Dan Wolgamott, another DFL House member whose race is headed to a recount.

The parties will then share power for the first time since 1979.

The 54A race has received attention for another reason: Some 20 absentee ballots in Shakopee’s 10th Precinct remain unaccounted for. The situation began after election officials noticed a difference between the number of absentee ballots marked returned and the number they counted.

Multiple counts of ballots in that precinct tallied 309. But 329 absentee ballots were checked in, Hanson previously told the Star Tribune, adding that it’s unclear what happened.

Hanson declined to comment on the status of the absentee ballots but said an investigation into the situation remains ongoing.

It’s added another layer of drama to an already tight race. Jim Schultz, president of the Minnesota Private Business Council, called for a new 54A election in a Wednesday statement, describing the absentee ballot discrepancy as “deeply troubling.”

“Scott County commissioners have a responsibility to ensure every legitimate vote is accounted for,” Schultz said. “There must be a transparent and thorough investigation, and the immediate calling of a new election to uphold the integrity of our democratic institutions.”

Hanson noted that Scott County Board doesn’t have the authority to call a new election. She previously said in a statement that the county is working with Shakopee to look into the situation and “ensure completeness and accuracy of the election results.”

The close legislative race for the St. Cloud-area 14B seat will also see some ballots recounted in an effort to quash rumors of misconduct.

Despite it being outside the threshold for an automatic recount, Sherburne County officials announced last week the county will pay for a hand recount of the four Sherburne County precincts from District 14B.

In that race, Wolgamott has a lead of 191 votes over Republican challenger Sue Ek, according to the unofficial totals posted to the secretary of state’s website.

For a short time on election night, the website showed Ek leading by four votes; the next morning, it showed Wolgamott leading by 28 votes.

The totals were updated on Nov. 7 after county staffers identified absentee ballots that were counted on election night but weren’t included in the totals posted to the secretary of state’s website due to “an incomplete transfer of data from [one] scanner to the state election reporting system,” according to Sherburne County Administrator Bruce Messelt.

The hand recount will be at 10 a.m. Monday at the Sherburne County Government Center in Elk River. The state Canvassing Board, which met Thursday afternoon, will need to convene again to certify the results of the 54A and 14B races.

Jenny Berg and Josie Albertson-Grove contributed to this story.