GRAND RAPIDS — Two candidates earned a clear majority of the vote in the Tuesday, Feb. 11, primary for the special election of Itasca County District 4 commissioner.
Former Itasca County sheriff and Grand Rapids School Board member Pat Medure was the top vote-getter with 40.17% of the vote (529 votes), according to unofficial results from the Secretary of State's Office. Larry Hopkins, owner of Hopkins Electric, finished second, receiving 33.86% of the ballots cast (446 votes).
Medure and Hopkins will advance to the general election on April 8.
Hopkins told KAXE Wednesday morning the primary went about as he expected.
"People, I think, are encouraged," he said. "They really would like for the tax levy not to increase, so I would just like to, you know, talk to department heads and people in charge and see if there's places were we could be a little more efficient without cutting wages and jobs — 'cause that's not my intention."
In a Wednesday afternoon interview, Medure said property values and taxes were also the issues he's heard most about from voters.
"And then, I'll say transparency. People have brought the word transparency up, and I'm all for being transparent in government," he said. "But I've been saying for a long time, transparency cuts both ways. Government entities can set the meeting, the date, the time and the location, etc., but we need the community to participate in that meeting."
Both candidates thanked the people who turned out to vote for them. Hopkins plans to continue to door-knock and advertise in the lead-up to the general election. Similarly, Medure said he'll continue to engage with the community and have dialogue.
"Special elections are — I don't want to say they're difficult," Medure said. "People's mindset is not necessarily where it would be as if it was a November election."
Dick Sackett received the third-most votes at 208 (15.79%). Sackett also ran an unsuccessful write-in campaign during the November election.
Robert Preble (71 votes, 5.39%) and Daniel E. Chase (63 votes, 4.78%) round out the results. Preble narrowly lost a race for District 3 in 2022 to Commissioner John Johnson, falling roughly 150 votes short.
Preble, who actively campaigned for himself in several local Facebook groups leading up to the primary election, reacted to the results on his campaign page.
"I don't understand this area keep running the same old thing over and over and over and see if we change I feel I'm pretty much game over with politics in the dam County people b**ch and cry when taxes are way to high then vote for a guy that has a history of running your dam taxes out of control," Preble wrote in a Facebook post.
"Its a lost cause I think I'll just move away from this area like every other single person because sh*t isn't going to change o well good luck to the winners and let's go Larry Hopkins."
The most recent District 4 Commissioner, Burl Ives, was up for reelection last November but died unexpectedly in September. His death was too close to Election Day for his name to be removed from the ballot.
The campaign for Ives continued after his death, with supporters saying a special election triggered by his posthumous victory would give residents a broader field of candidates. Ives won over 70% of the vote, defeating challenger Brian Oftelie and the handful of write-ins — one of which was Sackett — who emerged after Ives' death.
Just under 20% of voters registered as of Tuesday morning turned out for the primary.
"Probably not bad for a primary," Hopkins said of voter turnout. "But in the general election, it would be great to double that, if we could."
Medure also said he was disappointed in the turnout.
"But that's understandable for not being a November election and cold weather and the time of year that the election's being held," he said.
Absentee voting for the April election begins Feb. 21. Early in-person voters can cast their ballots at the Itasca County Courthouse from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday-Friday. The courthouse will also be open 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. April 5 and 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. April 7.
Editor's note: This story was updated at 1:15 p.m. to include comments from Pat Medure.
