Voters will choose among candidates for county board seats in Ramsey, Dakota and Washington counties in Tuesday’s primary election.
Candidates in District 7 in Ramsey County, District 5 in Dakota County and District 3 in Washington County will compete to move forward to the Nov. 5 general election. The top two vote-getters in the primary will advance. Last month a forum was held for Washington County candidates.
For more information on Minnesota’s primary election go to sos.state.mn.us/elections-voting/how-elections-work/primary-election/.
Here’s a roundup of the candidates:
Ramsey County
After 27 years in office, Ramsey County Commissioner Victoria Reinhardt has chosen not to run for re-election. The opening has set off a four-way primary race for the District 7 seat, which represents Maplewood, North St. Paul and White Bear Lake.
In all, four of the seven Ramsey County board seats will go to ballot this year, with one race to be decided by special election in February. Dakota and Washington counties will also host non-partisan political primaries on Tuesday for county board seats.
The District 7 candidates include Kevin Berglund, who has been active in Maplewood politics ([email protected]); Kelly Miller, director of the Department of Indian Work at Interfaith Action of Greater St. Paul (votekellymiller.com); Sarah K. Yang, the academic coordinator at TRIO Upward Bound (votesarahyang.com); and Michelle Yener, the associate director of curriculum at the College of Liberal Arts, University of Minnesota (michelleyener.com).
Ramsey County Commissioner Mary Jo McGuire is uncontested for re-election to the board’s District 2 seat, and Tara Jebens-Singh is the sole candidate for the District 1 seat, which is currently held by Nicole Frethem, who has chosen not to run for re-election.
Former Ramsey County Board Chair Trista Martinson stepped down earlier this month, creating an opening for her District 3 seat, which represents Falcon Heights and a long swath of St. Paul’s northern neighborhoods, including St. Anthony Park, Como Park, South Como, the North End, Hamline-Midway, Frogtown and Payne-Phalen. The political primary for the District 3 seat will be held Nov. 5, with a final election in February. Garrison McMurtrey and Joshua David Bau have both filed to run, though other candidates have also expressed interest.
Dakota County
Dakota County Commissioner Liz Workman ([email protected]) has served on the county board since 2009. Workman, who is running for re-election, faces three challengers for the District 5 seat, which spans the city of Burnsville. They are journalist and former Minnesota Department of Revenue outreach coordinator Yusuf Haji (hajifordakota.org); Bruce Johnson, who sits on the Dakota County Soil and Water board ([email protected]); and former state representative Phillip M. Sterner, the president of the Sterner Insurance Agency, who represented House District 37B in 2009 and 2010 ([email protected]).
County Commissioner Bill Droste is uncontested for re-election to the District 4 seat. County Commissioner Mary Hamann-Roland is uncontested for re-election to the the District 7 seat.
Washington County
After 20 years in office, Washington County Commissioner Gary Kriesel has chosen not to run for re-election. Four candidates will appear on Tuesday’s ballot for the District 3 seat, which spans Stillwater, Lake Elmo, Lakeland, Afton, Oak Park Heights and a dozen other cities and townships.
They are chiropractor Bethany Cox, a development director with the Wild Rivers Conservancy of the St. Croix and Namekagon (bethanycox.org); general contractor and home seller Scott “Cutter” Junker ([email protected]); Michael Schultz of Lake Elmo ([email protected]); and state Rep. Mark Wiens, who was elected two years ago to represent House District 41A (wiens4washco.com).
County Commissioner Fran Miron is uncontested for re-election to the District 1 seat on the Washington County board.
