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Conrad Hilbert and H. A. "Red" Mueller were the winners in the primary election Tuesday for District 3 Brown County Commissioner.
They will face off Nov. 2 for the seat on the county board which represents north New Ulm. Incumbent Elmer Guggisberg did not seek re-election.
Loser in the three-man race for this county board post was L. D."Pat" Patterson.
Total vote was 710 for Hilbert, 526 for Mueller and 259 for Patterson.
"I'M VERY HAPPY the way it turned out," said Hilbert Tuesday night after the votes were tallied."It's very encouraging. I'm glad people feel the way they do."
Hilbert and his wife, Doris, were up at the office of County Auditor Otis Loose until about 11 p.m. watching results come in from the various precincts.
"I'm real pleased," Mueller said of the results."At least I'm still in there."
BOTH MEN WERE disappointed at the small number of voters in the primary.
Out of 3,805 registered voters in the four precincts in north New Ulm represented by the district 3 county commissioner, the three candidates received a total of 1,495 votes for a turnout of 39 per cent of the voters.
County Auditor Otis Loose, however, said a low turnout at the primary is par for the course. Statewide the prediction was for about a 25 per cent turnout Tuesday. In Brown County, voters went over this percentage where there was a race-the district three commissioner contest--and under it where there was no local race. Ward 4 precinct 2 (Jefferson School), for example, where there was no local race, had a 17 per cent turnout--121 out of 707 registered voters cast their ballots.
HILBERT HAD the highest vote total in three of the four precincts voting in that race, including the precinct both he and Mueller live in,Ward 2 precinct 2 (City Hall).
Mueller had the top total in one precinct, ward 2 precinct 1, and came in second in two others.
Patterson had the low vote count in three precincts and was second in his home precinct, ward 3, precinct 2(West Side Park).
ALL THREE candidates campaigned door to door for the primary.
"I did a lot of hard work," Hilbert summed up, "I went and talked to the people, every day for three weeks. I was out for awhile. I didn't get to all of them but I did whatever I could.
"Taxation was their main concern," he said. "They were interested in somebody keeping their taxes down, on the same level."
Hilbert, 56, 1311 N. German, is owner of Con's Texaco. A native of West Virginia, he moved to Aitkin at age 12 and lived there until 1962, working as a dairy farmer after the war. He served in World War II. He bought Con's Texaco in January 1962. While at Aitkin he served several years on a township board and nine years on the Palisade School Board.
MUELLER SAID he campaigned,"Knocking on doors until I was out of cards." He went through 2,000 cards.
His main impression from the door knocking was that "a lot of people have never voted." He talked to a 74-year-old veteran who had never voted and a lot of young married people asked him how they would go about voting.
"The biggest concern is welfare, to try to hold that money down," Mueller said. "But I said you can't ask me to do that, most of it is already covered by state and federal acts, you can't do much of anything about them."
Mueller, 57, is a retired mailman. Born in Minneapolis, he has always lived in New Ulm except for six years in the service during and after World War II. He started work for the post office in 1953 and retired after 20 years on a disability.
Factors mentioned as possible elements in Hilbert's win were his past experience in public office; in Mueller's win, his active participation in the American Legion.
New Ulm Daily Journal
Sept. 15, 1976