Taylor Stevenson had what seemed to be a decisive lead late Tuesday night over Aitkin County Commissioner Anne Marcotte, 53, of Aitkin 2,529-1,682 with the DFL nomination for Senate District 10 at stake. About 63 percent of the precincts had reported.

In his second bid for the Legislature, the 24-year-old Baxter teacher was hoping to earn the right to face former state Sen. Carrie Ruud, 60, the Republican-endorsed candidate who did not have a challenger in her party.

“Well, I think were obviously feeling petty good about it,” Stevenson said. “Were pretty confident, cautiously optimistic.”

Stevenson said this would be a really good win for his team if the trends continued.

“We knew it was going to be a tough battle,” Stevenson said. “She had a good resume.”

The Dartmouth College graduate attributed what looked like a victory to people power. Stevenson lost a legislative race to Sen. Paul Gazelka two years ago.

MIKE O’ROURKE, associate editor, may be reached at 855-5860 or mike.orourke@brainerddispatch.com. He may be followed at www.twitter.com/MikeORourkenews.