Since she was first elected to the House in the great Tea Party wave of 2010, Alexandria Rep. Mary Franson has occasionally wandered into rhetorical minefields, most infamously after her ill-considered comparison of food stamp recipients to wild animals went viral and unleashed a torrent of ridicule and derision on the internet.

Marty Seifert said activists are judging candidates on their electability in a statewide race.

Election officials finished re-tallying votes in the House District 8B race on Thursday, finding one additional vote for Rep. Mary Franson in the process and widening her lead over Democratic candidate Bob Cunniff to 12 votes. Cunniff conceded the race to Franson late Thursday afternoon. The State Canvasing Board will meet on Dec. 4 to certify the results.

The State Canvassing Board on Tuesday met and unanimously approved the Nov. 6 election results, with the exception of the House District 8B race and the Senate District 20 race. The margin between candidates in both races was less than one half of 1 percent, the margin needed to trigger an automatic recount. Both recounts are expected to be completed by Friday.

In an already close race between Republican state Rep. Mary Franson and DFLer Bob Cunniff, which is scheduled to head to a recount next week, a judge has ruled that there was an obvious balloting error and nearly three dozen votes must be randomly tossed out.

Douglas County election officials noticed a big error when they met last week to go over canvasing results ahead of the recount between Rep. Mary Franson and Democrat Bob Cunniff. Some voters -- 35 in all -- were handed the wrong ballot at a Alexandria polling place that split two precincts.

Before closing his victory speech after winning back the DFL majority in the Minnesota Senate, a teary-eyed DFL Senate Minority Leader Tom Bakk grabbed the arm of one of his first-time candidates and lifted it high. “I want to introduce you to Senator-elect Melisa Franzen,” Bakk shouted to an exuberant crowd of DFLers gathered in downtown St. Paul at the Crowne Plaza Hotel. “They didn’t lose because they are Republicans; they lost because they are wrong.”

At least two close races for the Minnesota Legislature -- Senate District 20 and House District 8B -- appear to fall within the half percent margin required to trigger an automatic recount.