MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Former Hormel Foods executive Jeff Ettinger cruised to victory in a Democratic primary to finish the term of the late U.S. Rep. Jim Hagedorn.

Meanwhile, Republicans Brad Finstad and Jeremy Munson were locked in a close battle as returns continued to filter in late in the evening.

Finstad leads Munson by 436 votes, or 1.2 percentage points, out of 35,316 votes counted as of 2 a.m. CT Wednesday.

There likely remain a small number of absentee, provisional and late-arriving mail ballots left to count.

The winners will meet in August to determine who will finish the last few months of Hagedorn’s term. And they're likely to see a bump in their chances to win a full term later in November.