 Now people across the state closely watch the race for control of Minnesota's 8th congressional district. Pete Stauber beat out Crosby native Joe Rodinovic for the seat left open after the retirement of Rick Nolan. Reporter Rachel Johnson was at Rodinovic's election night watch party and she has more. Family and supporters of Joe Rodinovic gathered at the Arrowwood Lodge in Baxter Tuesday night to watch results come in. This is the end of a long several months of effort and I think everybody is ready for election season to be over but we're feeling cautiously optimistic tonight it's gonna be a very close race we expect. As results started to come in, Pete Stauber the Republican candidate from the Duluth area took an early lead. It really comes down to kind of maybe specific places in certain counties and maybe you know we want to hit a certain number in St. Louis County but every election is a little bit different. The current congressman from the 8th district was there to support the candidate who previously worked for his campaign. He ran a very good campaign, strong campaign, positive on the issues. Protecting social security, protecting Medicare, getting health care, prescription costs under control. The Rodinovic team remained hopeful as the night progressed even as Stauber held on to his lead. I'm still confident for Joe. My election contest 16, 14, 12, we were always about this far behind at this point in the night. At around 1140 Rodinovic trailing addressed the crowd not conceding but thanking his supporters for the help that they gave him along the way. This is a close race. We have many precincts left to go but there is no doubt that it looks like the odds will be long. When all precincts in the 8th district were in Pete Stauber had solidified his win with 51% of the votes to Rodinovic's 45%. We know that even if it's a loss, that we are not defeated. That the things that we stand for are not defeated. That the ideals that we hold are not defeated. That the values that we stand for are not defeated. While the Rodinovic team was disappointed, he thanked his supporters and was hopeful for the future. We are going to get back up and we're going to keep fighting because our community requires it because our state requires it and because our country requires it. We have an opportunity to stand up and to keep fighting on behalf of every child growing up across the state to fight on behalf of a better future for everybody to fight on behalf of the idea that our best days are yet to come. Reporting from Baxter, Rachel Johnson, Lakeland News and Pete Stauber will become the second Republican in 20 70 plus years to be elected to represent Minnesota's eighth congressional district. If you enjoyed this segment of Lakeland News, please consider making a tax deductible contribution to Lakeland PBS.