In 2004 Gail Kulick Jackson fell some 1,800 votes shy of unseating Republican state Rep. Sondra Erickson. The outcome was no surprise given that the district also backed President Bush for re-election by a 58-41 percent margin that year.

But Kulick Jackson wasn’t discouraged. The Milaca attorney kept right on campaigning. “She’s had lots of challengers, of course, over the years,” Kulick Jackson says of the incumbent, “but nobody ever tried it twice.” In 2006 she cut Erickson’s margin down to 459 votes.

Over the years Kulick Jackson continued building goodwill in the conservative district. “I do so much little work for little people,” she says of her law practice. “I’m the one who does grandma’s will and the neighbor’s deed.”

This year the Democrat finally cracked the electoral code, besting Erickson by just 89 votes. Owing to the closeness of the race there will be a recount, but Kulick Jackson is confident she’s headed to the Capitol in January. “Statistically the likelihood of finding one hundred errors in Sondra Erickson’s favor is so unlikely that I’m not terribly worried about it,” she says.

This year there were at least nine state House contests that were rematches from 2006. In three instances, challengers successfully avenged their previous defeats.

In 2006 Democrat Mike Obermueller fell 163 votes short of knocking off Rep. Lynn Wardlow. But this year Obermueller prevailed, topping the incumbent by just over 500 votes.

Gregory Davids served eight terms as a Republican legislator prior to being knocked off by cattle farmer Ken Tschumper in 2006. This time around Davids won by roughly 400 votes in the southeastern Minnesota district. One possible factor in the electoral reversal: Tschumper’s cows have repeatedly escaped from his property, drawing the wrath of neighbors and two tickets from the local authorities.

Other repeat challengers received no such bovine assistance. Republican Judy Soderstrom came closest to avenging defeat, falling roughly 300 votes short of ousting incumbent Tim Faust in House District 8B, which includes Pine City and Hinckley. The Democrat has now taken two of three contests with Soderstrom.

In the other five rematches, incumbents expanded their winning margins. In House District 30B, for instance, Democrat Andy Welti defeated Bill Kuisle for the third consecutive time. While each of the first two contests in the Rochester-area district were decided by less than 800 votes, this time around the DFL’er carried 56 percent of the vote.

The other rematches:

House District 2B: Rep. Brita Sailer (DFL) v. Doug Lindgren (GOP). Lindgren loses for the third time, by a 54-46 percent margin in this northwestern Minnesota district.

House District 22B: Rep. Rod Hamilton (GOP) v. Richard Peterson (DFL). Another three-peat, this time running away with a 60-40 victory in a district that includes Worthington.

House District 26B: Rep. Patti Fritz (DFL) v. Otto Luknic (GOP). Fritz solidifies her hold on the seat after three terms, winning 58 percent of the vote in a district centered around Faribault.

House District 50B: Rep. Kate Knuth (DFL) v. Lori Grivna (GOP). The Democrat widens her margin of victory, taking 57 percent of the vote in the northern suburban district.