MANKATO — Click here to see a photo gallery of images from across the nation of Election Day, 2008.



At St. Joseph the Worker Catholic Church polling place in west Mankato early Tuesday, head election judge Walt Anderson observed the waiting crowds and summed up:

“This election is historic. There are very few people cool, calm and collected about this one.”

Voters in the Mankato area, Minnesota and the nation uttered a collective amen to that, turning out in record numbers and culminating with the election of the nation’s first black president. Area election officials estimated turnout at more than 90 percent.

Cory Helland, 23, of Mankato, was voting in his second presidential election.

“I was 18 last time I voted — fresh out of high school, so it didn’t affect me that much per se.”

This time around, though, he said he’s paid a lot more attention to the issues.

“This election is exciting. There’s an aura of change about it.”

Antoine Underwood almost missed his chance to vote for Barack Obama.

The black Minnesota State University student and his two white roommates

had to prove they were residents before they could vote at Taylor Center.

After some hassle, they found a computer and printed out one of their utility bills. That did the trick.

Underwood’s roommates, Jake Cooney and Brady Schloesser, said they also were voting for Obama.

“All presidential elections are big, but this one is really controversial,” Cooney said.

Underwood said Obama’s race had nothing to do with his decision at the polls although, he added, it was a historic election.

“I’m just voting the way I did because of the war and the economy,” Underwood said.

Mankatoan Jeff Schulz knew there was a red and blue split across the country, but what he didn’t realize until late Tuesday is that there’s a purple line running through his living room.

He’d already exchanged a high-five with his wife, Jayni, when she let him know she’d canceled out his vote for John McCain with her vote for Obama.

“It was something new,” she said before ‘fessing up to her husband. “Everything is about change, and I decided I was going to change my ways, too.”

They said they were both turned off by the U.S. Senate race between Republican incumbent Norm Coleman and challenger Al Franken. Dean Barkley, the Independence Party representative, was the choice for both of them.

The number of people who voted at Hosanna Lutheran Church, where the Schulzes voted, exceeded the number of registered voters, said Daryl Arzdorf, an election judge there. Long lines started the day when the doors opened, but people moved through quickly after the initial rush, he said.

At St. Joseph the Worker church, festive early arrivals gathered shortly after 6 a.m.

“These women had a tailgate party. They brought their lawn chairs,” said election judge Margaret Schulze.

Maria Baxter-Nuamah, assistant director for African-Amercian Affairs at Minnesota State University, said she was overwhelmed by the interest she saw among students.

“I’ve been extremely surprised at how knowledgeable these students have been. It’s not a fad-type thing,” she said.

“If a black person or a person of color gets in the White House, it’s an important thing, but for these students, it’s more about the issues.”

Baxter-Nuamah said her personal choice for president would have been Hillary Clinton, with Obama (“I thought he needed a bit more seasoning”) as vice president.

That said, she’s just fine with the election’s outcome.

“To me this was historic. Obama is the epitome of what America is supposed to be; he’s multi-racial.”