Metro & State

Tuesday's primaries held few surprises while narrowing the field of candidates to one per party, per office in preparation for November's general election. Candidates continued to campaign until the last minute. DFL gubernatorial candidate Becky Lourey appeared on campus Monday in hopes of garnering student support before the primary. Curt Baker, a first-year Carlson School of Management student and a first-time voter, said he voted to become integrated in the political process.

State Rep. Keith Ellison won the 5th District Democratic primary Tuesday. His victory could bring the first black representative from Minnesota to the U.S. House of Representatives and the first Muslim to Congress. Jim Leinfelder, communications director for Ellison, said "buoyant euphoria" lofted through the room after announcement of the win. "I've been to a lot of events like this and it's hard to remember anything like this since (Sen. Paul) Wellstone's first victory," he said.

State Rep. Keith Ellison won the 5th District Democratic primary Tuesday. His victory could bring the first black representative from Minnesota to the U.S. House of Representatives and the first Muslim to Congress. Jim Leinfelder, communications director for Ellison, said "buoyant euphoria" lofted through the room after announcement of the win. "I've been to a lot of events like this and it's hard to remember anything like this since (Sen. Paul) Wellstone's first victory," he said.

The polls at Coffman Union were quiet Tuesday morning. From 10 a.m. to noon, fewer than 20 people cast ballots at the campus primary polling site. Political parties of all sorts court young voters, but their presence, especially in primaries, is scarce, political officials said. "We generally see lower involvement in the primary election, but a very high involvement in the general election which is the most critical one," said Secretary of State Mary Kiffmeyer, who ran unopposed in the Republican primary.

The polls at Coffman Union were quiet Tuesday morning. From 10 a.m. to noon, fewer than 20 people cast ballots at the campus primary polling site. Political parties of all sorts court young voters, but their presence, especially in primaries, is scarce, political officials said. "We generally see lower involvement in the primary election, but a very high involvement in the general election which is the most critical one," said Secretary of State Mary Kiffmeyer, who ran unopposed in the Republican primary.

Surrounded by concrete and high-rises, the North Country Co-op offers city dwellers a taste of the organic farm life. On Tuesday, the grocery store had a back-to-school barbecue for the students, faculty and staff members of the University and Augsburg College. North Country hosted the event to reinforce that the co-op is a different type of grocery store and to show new students what organic living is about. The goal of most co-ops is to provide a variety of environmentally friendly foods to their customers, and they typically are run by their members.