Witkofsky bests Smith in Itasca County Board primary, both move to general

DEER RIVER — Lonny Witkofsky is set to challenge incumbent Cory Smith for District 1 Itasca County Commissioner.

Witkofsky, 65, is a semi-retired businessman from the north shore of Lake Winnibigoshish. He cinched 839 votes, or more than 41%, the most of any candidate. Cory Smith, 48, of S. Lake is the current county commissioner. In the primary, he trailed Witkofsky by over 100 votes, finishing with 715.

Chris Reed, the race's third-place candidate, received 471 votes and will not advance.

County Commissioner District 1 includes the cities of Cohasset, Deer River and S. Lake.

Despite his first-place finish, Witkofsky said he isn't celebrating yet.

"There's a lot of people for me to meet yet," he said. "So yeah, we're halfway through this."

For Smith, taxes are one issue important to his campaign. In his time as a commissioner, he said he dedicated himself to fighting for the county in St. Paul. He also said he appreciated his constituents' support while in office.

 “I am very blessed and grateful that people are ... continuing to trust in the job that, you know, myself along with my other colleagues have been doing with Itasca County," he said.

When discussing his accomplishments, Smith also pointed to his role in improving local industry.

“I think one of the biggest accomplishments is getting Mesabi Metallics back on track as they start to open up the doors and get that mining operation going out there. It's going to be, you know, anywhere from $10 [million] to $12 million of direct tax relief to the citizens of Itasca County, which is great.”

Witkofsky also focused on industry, stating one of his top priorities would be establishing an oriented strand board, or OSB, timber business in Itasca County.

He disputed whether Smith could take credit for the Mesabi project.

"Mesabi Metallics was here in 2010," he said. "I poured the first concrete out there. I know how long they've been here and he didn't have nothing to do with that."

The general election is set for Nov. 3. Early voting opens Sept. 18.