ROCKFORD, MN — Joe McDonald, the mayor of Delano, has been endorsed tonight by the Republicans in District 19B, which is the seat soon-to-be-vacated by Tom Emmer, who is running for governor.

Five candidates took part in the process:  Tracy Vetruba of Howard Lake,  McDonald, Ken Felger of Buffalo, Alan Johnson of Waverly, and Jon Papas of St. Michael.

The endorsement process was hosted by the Wright County GOP House District 19B tonight at the Rockford High School Auditorium.

The endorsement took only two rounds of votes, with 88 votes being needed for the endorsement.  In the first round, McDonald received 73 votes, Felger 31, Vetruba 24 and Papas and Johnson not receiving enough votes for mention by the event coordinators.  Johnson asked delegates to cast his votes behind McDonald.  In the second round, McDonald won the endorsement unanimously.

McDonald will face off in the fall with his DFL opponent, Chris Brazelton.  District 19 includes all of Wright County except for the following: the cities of Howard Lake, Cokato, and Annandale; and townships of French Lake, Middleville, South Haven, Southside, and Stockholm.