In a closely contested race for the newly created Minnesota Senate District 4, Democrat Kent Eken of Twin Valley and Republican Phil Hansen of Detroit Lakes saw the lead change several times over the course of Tuesday evening. By a little after midnight, however, with just over half of all districts in the state reporting, Eken had taken a narrow lead of less than 1 percent.
As night moved into morning, with 86 percent of districts reporting, Eken began to widen the gap against Hansen, garnering 19,235 votes (52 percent) to Hansen's 17,897 (48 percent).
Hansen did carry his home county, Becker, where he earned 4,122 votes (58 percent) to Eken's 2,983 (42 percent).
Eken, a teacher from Twin Valley, served five terms in the Minnesota House before redistricting placed him in the same district as colleague and friend Paul Marquart.
Hansen, a Detroit Lakes businessman, is best known for his years as an NFL football player with the Buffalo Bills.
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The district includes Detroit Lakes and the townships of Lakeview, Lake Eunice and Cormorant. It also encompasses Clay and Norman counties.
