When it came to the elections for the Minnesota State House of Representatives and Senate, the residents of Faribault County supported the Republican candidate in all four races, and all four Republicans were elected to office.

The District 22 Senate race was won by Republican Rich Draheim who ran unopposed for the seat.

He was elected with a total of 29,789 votes, or just under 97 percent of the total votes. There were 962 write-in votes.

In Faribault County, residents of Delavan, Winnebago City, Verona, Prescott, Jo Daviess, Blue Earth City and Pilot Grove townships supported Draheim with 2,330 votes, or 96.88 percent of the total votes cast. There were 75 write-in votes.

Draheim was first elected to the Minnesota Senate in 2016. He resides in Madison Lake with his wife, Lynette.

In Senate District 23, Republican Gene Dornink was the victor with 65.75 percent of the vote. He tallied 20,275 votes to 13,051 for Democrat challenger Brandon Lawhead.

Faribault County residents from Dunbar, Clark, Foster, Kiester, Lura, Minnesota Lake, Barber, Walnut Lake, Emerald, Brush Creek, Elmore, Rome and Seely townships cast 2,186 votes (69.11 percent) for Dornink to 972 (30.73 percent) for Lawhead. There were five write-in votes.

Dornink was first elected to the Minnesota Senate two years ago, but because of redistricting he had to run again in a newly formed district.

He lives in Brownsdale with his wife Vicky where he is a carpenter and small business owner.

The race for the House District 22A seat saw Republican Bjorn Olson triumph with just over 69 percent of the vote over his Democrat challenger Marisa Ulmen.

Olson tallied 12,221 votes to 5,467 for Ulmen.

The same seven townships from Faribault County which were in Senate District 22 were also in House District 22A. Voters in those townships gave Olson 2,078 votes while Ulmen had 738, a 73.74-26.31 percentage advantage for Olson. There were two write-in votes.

For Olson, it was the second time he was elected to the state house. In 2020, he was elected from District 23A with over 68 percent of the votes.

Olson is a resident of Fairmont and a past mayor of the city of Elmore.

In the House District 23A race, Republican Peggy Bennett was elected with 12,040 votes to 6,252 for Democrat Mary Hinnenkamp. There were 19 write-in votes.

Bennett received 65.75 percent of the votes to send her back to the Minnesota house where she first assumed office in 2015.

Locally, the same 13 counties which are part of Senate District 23, threw their support behind Bennett by a 70.59-29.31 percent margin over Hinnenkamp.

The vote totals in Faribault County showed Bennett had received 2,235 votes to 928 for Hinnenkamp.

Bennett last served District 27A before redistricting put her in 23A.

She is a retired educator from Albert Lea and holds degrees in education from both Crown College and St. Cloud University. Currently, she serves as the assistant minority leader in the Minnesota House.