ST. CLOUD — After two election cycles with razor thin margins in the state Senate District 14 race, Democratic incumbent Aric Putnam successfully widened the gap with his win on Tuesday.
Putnam, a professor at College of St. Benedict/St. John's University, earned 52.4% of the vote against challenger Tama Theis, a business owner who has served in the state House for five terms.
In the unofficial results posted to the Minnesota Secretary of State website, Putnam earned 1,381 votes more than Theis — sizable increases from the 2020 election, when Putnam defeated the late Jerry Relph by 315 votes, and the 2016 election, where Relph defeated Dan Wolgamott by just 141 votes.
Senate District 14, which includes St. Cloud and Waite Park, has grown increasingly diverse over the past decade. And since redistricting, it is more urban and diverse than other parts of central Minnesota.
"The Republicans have stood for everything I can think of that's regressive," said St. Cloud resident Mark Thelen, 78, who said he voted for Democrats in all partisan races Tuesday.
Thelen said his top concerns for the legislative election include women's rights and adequate funding that will benefit society as a whole, he said.
"Parks, libraries, highways and schools could all be tainted with the word socialist. But they provide for everyone," he said.
Wolgamott, who ran for his third term in the House District 14B seat, was re-elected with 51.8% of the vote Tuesday. His challenger was Republican Aaron Henning, co-owner of the well-known local hamburger joint, Val's Rapid Serv.
