The evidence of intense interest in the presidential race has been overwhelming this year — from huge turnout at primaries and caucuses last winter and spring to record television ratings for the acceptance speeches of Barack Obama, Sarah Palin and John McCain.

But has the interest carried over to other races?

If participation in Tuesday’s primary election is any indication, not really.

Just more than 251,000 Minnesotans voted in the Democratic primary election won by Senate candidate Al Franken, down from more than 318,000 in the DFL Senate primary two years ago. The number of voters in the Republican primary won by Sen. Norm Coleman was down 20,000 from the 163,000 in the same race in 2006.

Only the Independence Party saw an increase, from 10,695 two years ago to 11,341 this year.

Spinning numbers

Both Coleman’s campaign and that of Franken put a heavy spin on the numbers from Tuesday’s vote.

The Coleman campaign noted that Priscilla Lord Faris received more than a third of the vote in the DFL senate race and that she actually beat Franken in some rural counties, including Sibley County.

Of course, primaries in Minnesota — where anyone can vote in any party’s primary — produce some odd results. Coleman, who was running against an accused arsonist who is living in Italy to avoid prosecution, saw nearly 9 percent of the vote in his race go to the fugitive. The alleged arsonist is gaining on Coleman. He won just 6 percent of the vote in his 2002 primary race against Coleman.

Franken’s campaign focused on the raw number of votes the DFLer received Tuesday night — 33,163 more than were cast for Coleman.

Wooing Sarah

The Palin phenomenon continued last week as she drew large crowds in joint appearances with running mate McCain. And at least one south-central Minnesota political activist is hoping the Alaska governor and Republican vice presidential candidate will visit the 1st Congressional District.

Neal Breitbarth, a Fairmont businessman and delegate to the Republican National Convention, didn’t agree with a suggestion that Palin was the star of the convention. But Breitbarth might have been trying to protect McCain’s feelings, because he asked that Palin — not McCain — do a campaign rally in the district with GOP congressional candidate Brian Davis.

Breitbarth said he thinks the district is perfect for Palin and that residents would respond with great enthusiasm, helping Davis in his attempt to unseat freshman Democratic Congressman Tim Walz of Mankato.

“The request is already in,” Breitbarth said after the convention.