Itasca County voters re-elect dead commissioner

DULUTH – A deceased Itasca County commissioner candidate won re-election Tuesday by a landslide.

Grand Rapids, Minn., resident Burl Ives, 57, died Sept. 11, a loss that was well-publicized in local media. He was vying for his third term of the board that oversees the large county, which sits more than an hour northwest of Duluth.

Ives defeated Brian Oftelie with nearly three-quarters of the vote.

It was legally too late to remove Ives’ name from the ballot, said Austin Rohling, Itasca County auditor. Now, the board must certify the election results to declare Ives a winner before they can announce a vacancy — both needed to trigger a special election and likely primary, Rohling said. If all goes as expected, the election will be held in the spring, with a primary in February. An appointment, rather than a special election, requires at least half a term to be served.

So, why did people vote for him?

Rohling said Ives’ family asked people considering write-in names to instead vote for Ives.

They wanted him to win “one last time,” he said, so, for many, “it was a memorialization of a life’s legacy as a servant to the people.”

According to Ives’ obituary, he “had a knack for making friends wherever he went. Whether he was snowmobiling, cruising on his motorcycle, fishing, cooking up a storm with friends or striking up conversations with strangers, he embraced life.”

It’s not the first time in recent years a dead candidate has been elected in Minnesota. Joe Wishy was re-elected in Lindstrom in 2016. Then, too, city leaders said they believe residents wanted to honor Wishy’s public service. In 2012, John Ericson died two days before ballots were cast for Spring Park City Council. He won a seat by a 2 to 1 vote.