Voters return incumbents Thompson and Garofalo

Voters appear to have chosen two familiar faces in Minnesota Senate District 58 and House 58B, returning incumbent Sen. Dave Thompson and Rep. Pat Garofalo to the state Capitol Tuesday by convincing margins.

Both Thompson and Garofalo are Republicans.

Thompson, a lawyer and former talk show host from Lakeville who was seeking his second term in the Senate, led challenger Andrew Brobston 12,842-9,382 with 77 percent of the vote recorded late Tuesday night.

Garofalo, a Farmington resident who was first elected in 2004, led challenger Jim Arlt, an Independent who was endorsed by District 58B Democrats, 9,024-6,256 with 63 percent of the vote recorded.

Thompson currently serves on the commerce and consumer protection, education, judiciary and public safety and state government innovation and veterans committees.

Garofalo is currently chair of the House Education Finance Committee. He also serves on the redistricting, taxes and ways and means committees.

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