DFL delegates from the new State Senate District 17 failed to endorse a candidate after four rounds of balloting Thursday night in Clara City, making a primary election necessary. The candidates needed to garner 60% of the vote to gain the endorsement. After the fourth ballot, Representative Lyle Koenen of Clara City had 85 votes and Larry Rice of Willmar received 71 votes. The delegates then agreed to not endorse a candidate. Both candidates had announced at the start of the convention that they would not suspend their campaign for the Senate seat if the other candidate was endorsed, so in the end it didn’t really matter that neither got the endorsement, and a Primary will be held in in August for the right to challenge Republican Senator Joe Gimse of Willmar in November. The new Senate District 17 covers most of Renville County and all of Chippewa, Kandiyohi and Swift Counties.