REPORTERS' NOTEBOOK

Tuesday morning traffic at a Brainerd's Ward 2 Precinct 2 polling station at the Lakes Area Senior Activity Center was steady with the first congestion noted about noon with five polling tables filled and about seven people, seated waiting for a table to open up.

Election officials said 180 voters had cast ballots by noon. - Mike O'Rourke.

Franzen continues tradition

Crow Wing County Commissioner Rosemary Franzen was out door-to-door campaigning Monday and at 8 p.m. Tuesday - when the polls closed - she planned to continue her tradition of getting out in the area and picking up her campaign signs. - Renee Richardson.

Weather is remarkable

Candidates and their supporters noted the warm autumn weather in the days and months leading up to the election made for pleasant conditions as they went door-to-door in area neighborhoods compared to some previous years. - Renee Richardson.

Election judges thanked

Brainerd City Administrator Dan Vogt, in giving his regular report Monday to the Brainerd City Council, gave thanks to the 70 people who serve as election judges in the city.

"Those people who put in a very, very long day on election day," Vogt said. "We very much appreciate all the work they do for the city in creating a very fair and impartial election day."

Vogt also thanked the schools and Lakes Area Senior Activity Center for hosting polling locations. - Matt Erickson

Maple Grove Township first

Maple Grove Township, located in southeastern Crow Wing County, at 9:20 p.m. Tuesday was the first precinct in the county to report into the auditor's office at the Crow Wing County Historic Courthouse with election results.

The White Precinct of Unorganized Territory and Garrison city followed Maple Grove Township.

In Maple Grove precinct, there were 314 voters. Norene Warta, election judge and Maple Grove Township clerk, said about 16 new voters registered at the polls, most of them were just of voting age this year. Warta was ready to call it a night long before many of the precincts were even in the door of the courthouse. After all, she said, Wednesday was a work day. - Renee Richardson

Watching for wildlife

By 10 p.m. the precincts were reporting and election judges were lining up in the hallway waiting to have their results tabulated. Judges driving to the historic courthouse in Brainerd also had to keep an eye out for wildlife, as Fifty Lakes precinct judges avoided a skunk. - Renee Richardson