Though it may not feel like it, we're only six weeks removed from the 2012 election. It's OK, you can check the calendar. On election day, students from visiting assistant professor Henriet Hendriks' St. Olaf College political science class conducted exit polling throughout the Second Congressional District, which contains all of Rice, Carver, Scott, Goodhue and Le Sueur counties, as well as most of Dakota and Washington counties. Specifically, polls were conducted in Lakeville, Farmington, Rosemount, and Burnsville. This week, Hendricks' class finished analyzing the more than 500 responses …

Rep. John Kline (R-Lakeville) is going back to Washington, D.C. Kline defeated Democratic challenger Mike Obermueller by more than 8 points on Nov. 6. With each of the 291 precincts reporting, Kline received 193,587 votes, or 54.01 percent of the total votes cast. Obermueller received 164,335, or 45.85 percent. Patch will have more on this race in the coming days.

From the mayoral race of Lakeville, to legislative races in Eagan, and all the way up to a U.S. Congressional race, fifteen candidates were asked the exact same question on Election night: "What is the most important issue for your constituency right now?" See how they responded, along with their portrait in the photo gallery.

From the mayoral race of Lakeville, to legislative races in Eagan, and all the way up to a U.S. Congressional race, fifteen candidates were asked the exact same question on Election night: "What is the most important issue for your constituency right now?" See how they responded, along with their portrait in the photo gallery.

City Councilor Matt Little is Lakeville's newest mayor. The soon-to-be 28-year-old law student, and current City Councilor, defeated incumbent mayor Mark Bellows and challenger Laurie Rieb on Tuesday, Nov. 6. With all precincts reporting, Little received 12,175 votes, or 43.93 percent of the 27,715 total votes cast. Bellows had 10,803 votes, or 39.08 percent of the total. Rieb received 4,638 votes, or 16.73 percent. Little went to Facebook to unofficially claim victory, saying: "I want to thank everybody who made this possible. Looking forward to building a better city!"  See our election …

Lakeville's School Board has a not-so-new-face joining the ranks. Terry Lind, a former principal at Lakeview Elementary School, was elected to the school board on Nov. 6, joining incumbents Bob Erickson and Judy Keliher who were also re-elected. Lind takes the seat of longtime Board Member Kathy Lewis who announced earlier this year she's retiring from public office after 22 years. By the numbers, among all 22 precincts, Erickson led all vote getters with 11,948 votes, good for 22.46 percent of the total ballots cast. Lind finished second with 11,746 votes, or 22.12 percent. Keliher finished …

Incumbent Kerrin Swecker was re-elected to Lakeville's City Council on Nov. 6, and joining her will be Doug Anderson. Anderson fill Laurie Rieb's seat who vacated the council position to run for Lakeville mayor. See the results of that race. Anderson actually led all vote-getters with 13,695 votes, or 37.47 percent of the total. Swecker finished second with 12,960 votes, or 35.46 percent. David Bares finished third with 9,717 votes, good for 26.59 percent. For more election results, see our election results page. Lakeville Patch will have far more on the elections on Wednesday.

Lakeville's voters have re-elected State Sen. Dave Thompson and Rep. Mary Liz Holberg. Thompson, a Republican, easily defeated DFLer Andrew Brobston, by more than 15 points on Nov. 6. Holberg, also a Republican, beat DFL challenger Colin Lee by more than 18 points. See our election results page. Lakeville Patch will have far more on the elections on Wednesday.

Like us on Facebook | Follow us on Twitter | Sign up for our newsletter Welcome to Lakeville Patch's hub for all things Election 2012. Here, we'll be offering up-to-the-moment election results from the races all across town. We will also have links to Lakeville Patch's regional (think county races) as well as state and federal (think senate and president) election coverage.  Presidential, senate, congressional and constitutional amendment results | Dakota County election results including judicial races | Other local coverage: Burnsville | Eagan | Northfield | Apple Valley/Rosemount | Mendota…

Rep. John Kline (R-Lakeville) has defeated DFL challenger Mike Obermueller for the Second Congressional District. The Associated Press declared Kline the winner, and as of 1:35 a.m., he was up by 11,000 votes and nearly 5 points, with 71 percent of precints reporting. In other Lakeville races, incumbent Kerrin Swecker and challenger Doug Anderson were in the lead for seats on Lakeville's City Council, with David Bares in third. To see the numbers, check our Lakeville election results page. With 16 of 22 precincts reporting in the Lakeville School Board election, incumbents Bob Erickson and …

Like us on Facebook | Follow us on Twitter | Sign up for our newsletter Election day is nearly upon us—Tuesday, Nov. 6, is the big day—and Lakeville Patch wants to make sure you're not only equipped with information, but also the logistics of voting. Every vote matters. We want to make sure you get your red sticker. First, everyone votes for a reason: to see their candidates win. That's why we're going to offer robust election night coverage, heavy on real-time results from all the races you're following: Presidential, senate, congressional and constitutional amendment results | Dakota County…

Editor's note: It's not news that folks in Lakeville are getting attack ads in their mailboxes. That's pretty common. It is news when those mailers come from national Super PACs since it's not typical for groups who generate millions of dollars to support presidential races to get involved in local mayoral elections. Nor is it typical for a mayoral candidate of a suburban town to raise more than $6,000 in cash from places and groups in other states. The confluence of these two items has made this topic newsworthy. Lakeville's mayoral race is getting strange. Usually mayoral races are entirely…

Election season is nearly done and Lakeville's legislative candidates have released their finance reports that were due no later than Oct. 29 to the state's Campaign Finance and Public Disclosure Board. The reports are available at their website. Are you ready for election day? Check out out Voter's Guide. Check out Lakeville's mayoral and city council candidate finance numbers. See the August legislative campaign finance numbers. According to the campaign finance reports, some candidates have raised thousands of dollars during the election cycle. In addition, election day isn't until Tuesday…

Election season is nearly done and Lakeville's mayoral and city council candidates have released their finance reports that were due no later than Oct. 29 to the state's Campaign Finance and Public Disclosure Board. Lakeville Patch then requested the reports from the city clerk's office since they aren't yet available online. Are you ready for election day? Check out out Voter's Guide. According to the campaign finance reports, some candidates have raised thousands of dollars during the election cycle. In addition, election day isn't until Tuesday, Nov. 6, and some candidates still have …

The final debate between President Barack Obama and Republican candidate Mitt Romney is at 8 p.m. tonight—Oct. 22. Check below for more information on tonight's debate and the previous debates held leading up to Election Day. TV Channels Broadcasting Live: FOX (KMSP), NBC (KARE), CBS (WCCO), ABC (KSTP), PBS (TPT), CNN, MSNBC, FOX NEWS, CNBC and CSPAN Live Streaming Online: You Tube's Election Hub Live Chat with Twin Cities Residents During the Debates: Lakeville Patch Neighborhood Chat Room Comic Relief: Name-calling debate on YouTube, New York Times cartoon,Democalypse 2012 from The Daily …

Lakeville's City Council candidates participated in an election forum on Oct. 16. The video of the form can be found online. Moderated by the Lakeville Area Chamber of Commerce, the forum, held at City Hall, included incumbent council woman Kerrin Swecker, as well as challengers David Bares and Doug Anderson. Incumbent Laurie Rieb is vying for mayor, and not seeking re-election to her council seat. Lakeville Patch will follow the election through Nov. 6 election day.

Lakeville's mayoral candidates participated in an election forum on Oct. 9. The video of the form can be found online. Moderated by the Lakeville Area Chamber of Commerce, the forum, held at City Hall, included incumbent mayor Mark Bellows, as well as challengers Matt Little and Laurie Rieb. Little and Rieb are both members of Lakeville's City Council. Lakeville Patch will follow the election through Nov. 6 election day.

Lakeville's School Board candidates participated in an election forum on Oct. 2. The video of the form can be found online. Moderated by the Lakeville Area Chamber of Commerce, the forum, held at City Hall, included incumbents Bob Erickson and Board Chairwoman Judy Keliher, as well as challengers Terry Lind and Jennifer Hearon Harmening. One other challenger—Bader A. Alossaimi—did not participate. Lakeville Patch will follow the election through Nov. 6 election day.

In 2008 President Barack Obama actually lost the election to Sen. John McCain in Lakeville. In fact, county-wide, Obama won by just 5.5 percentage points. And while generally speaking, Lakeville is proud to be conservative, Obama has a huge advantage when it comes to individual campaign contributions made by Lakeville residents. According to numbers from the Federal Election Commission’s website, more than 153 separate contributions have been made by individuals in Lakeville for Obama's campaign, compared to only 46 separate contributions for Romney. The records are considered public …

Election season is in full swing, and Americans for Prosperity, the nation’s leading advocate for economic freedom, today announced its "Obama's Failing Agenda" bus tour will be in Lakeville on Sept. 29. The bus will be at Antlers Park from 9-10:30 a.m. on Sept. 29. According to a press release from Americans For Prosperity, the three-bus tour is crisscrossing the nation, "giving a voice to the millions of Americans who oppose the policies of this administration." From the press release: "Fresh off the road from Montana, Wyoming, and North Dakota, events will educate Minnesotans on the most …