Politics & Government
Deceased Man Elected In Itasca County
Burl Ives, 57, died in September. He won the county commission race in a landslide.
GRAND RAPIDS, MN — Itasca County voters elected a deceased candidate to the County Commissioner seat.
Incumbent Burl Ives, 57, passed away on Sept. 11. He was running for a third term on the board that oversees, and it was too late to remove his name from the ballot legally, the Star Tribune reported.
Ives won with 3,927 votes (72 percent) to Brian Oftelie's 1,294 votes (23 percent), according to the preliminary results from the Minnesota Secretary of State's Office.
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A primary and special election will have to follow, once the results of the election are certified.
Itasca County Auditor Austin Rohling suggested that voters may have chosen Ives one last time as a tribute to his legacy as a dedicated public servant.
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Ives’ obituary states that he "had a knack for making friends wherever he went. Whether he was snowmobiling, cruising on his motorcycle, fishing, cooking up a storm with friends or striking up conversations with strangers, he embraced life."
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