Former state Rep. Mark Olson’s bizarre write-in campaign, which was endorsed by the Republican Party in Senate District 16, fell slightly short of success. The Republican, who was kicked out of the party caucus after being arrested for assaulting his wife, received 310 1,462 votes in the state Senate race, according to the Minnesota Secretary of State’s Office.

But that’s not to say that Olson didn’t play a vital role in the contest. In fact, his influence was sufficient to help knock off the Republican candidate in a district that’s dominated by the GOP. Allison Krueger, who defeated Olson in the Republican primary, received 22,260 votes — 93 less than Democrat Lisa Fobbe. (Strangely there were an additional 1,366 write-in votes that are not attributed to Olson.)

Just how Republican is Senate District 16? Bush won it by 22 points in 2004; Pawlenty won it by 20 points two years ago. Even McCain-Palin took it by 20 points yesterday — among the highest margins in the state for the Republican ticket.

But perhaps Senate District 16, which includes Big Lake and Princeton, is trending a tad blue. One of the two state House seats in the area was also taken by a Democrat yesterday. Gail Kulick Jackson, in her third try, knocked off seven-term incumbent Sondra Erickson by just 99 votes.

Both contests will be subject to recounts under state law owing to the extremely close vote tallies.