University students Paul Kluge and Christopher Boik failed to unseat incumbents in races for state senator and representative, respectively, in Austin and New Ulm, Minn.
The race for representative in Austin’s District 27B was decided by a huge margin on Tuesday night. University student and Republican candidate Christopher Boik challenged DFL representative and first-term incumbent Rob Leighton.
Leighton was the favorite in the race, and early returns indicated that Boik lost by a sizable margin.
Boik, a junior in the Institute of Technology, was hopeful the day before the election, saying he thought he had a good shot at unseating his opponent.
After defeat seemed certain, Boik said that he was happy with how his campaign had gone.
“I don’t know if I’ll run for politics again,” Boik said, “but I’ll stay involved with the candidates.”
Boik’s campaign platform included a stance against tax increases and support for term limits.
“I have benefited tremendously from this election,” Boik said.
Another IT student, senior Paul Kluge, challenged 16-year incumbent Dennis Frederickson in New Ulm’s District 23.
Kluge, an underdog in the race, lost to Frederickson by a significant margin.
“We have the best hopes for a close race,” Kluge said in the final hours before polls closed.
“Frederickson is a well-respected legislator with 16 years of experience,” Kluge said as the results came in. “I’ll be catching up on my reading now.”
Kluge also said it was too early to speculate on whether he would run again.
“There are plenty of qualified candidates out there,” Kluge said.
— Lynne Kozarek