Iron canvass supports Tingstad's DA victory

HURLEY — A Friday canvass of the Iron County, Wis., election turned up five fewer votes for District Attorney winner Matt Tingstad, but he’s still in line to take office on Jan. 1.

The canvass vote count at the courthouse was 1,704 for Tingstad, of Bessemer, to 1,696 for Tony Stella, of Kimball.

The canvass board does not count every vote, but compares the call-in totals the county clerk receives to the sheets recorded by each municipality. In one precinct, the town of Anderson, five extra votes had been recorded for Tingstad.

According to deputy county clerk Kathy Brauer and Tingstad, Stella said he will decide by Monday whether to seek a county-wide recount.

After the dust had settled around midnight Tuesday in a shocking upset, Tingstad had defeated Stella by an apparent count of 1,709 to 1,696, riding the Republican sweep nationwide.

It was the only contested county race on the ballot.

Stella lost the 2012 DA election to Marty Lipske by four votes in a recount, 1,630 to 1,626.

It appeared Stella had won in 2012 by three votes, but the recount turned up the victory for Lipske, who ran as an independent. Stella ran as a Democrat both in that election and on Tuesday.

Stella served as Iron County DA from 1986 to 1989, and again from 1995 to 1997.

Elaine Erickson, of Ironwood, was defeated in this year’s Iron DA primary election.

Tingstad said Friday he campaigned hard throughout the county and said the election involved the “right timing” for him. He won the election in Mercer, where he had many friends, but said he thought he’d do even better there.

He said he knew that Stella would be leading the race with Mercer the last to count ballots and that’s the way it played out.

Tingstad said he expects to receive his license to practice law within a week or so and he must be a resident of Wisconsin when he takes office on Jan. 1.