A rundown of who is running for office locally in 2022
The filing period for candidates seeking elected office ended on Tuesday. Here are five things to watch ahead of the August primaries.
Four candidates file for Rochester mayor
After cruising to victory in 2018, Rochester Mayor Kim Norton will face three challengers in her first election as an incumbent. Those candidates are recruitment professional Brad Trahan, business owner Britt Noser, and engineer Dean Koutsoukos. As with other races requiring a primary, the top two vote-getters in August will move on to November’s general election.
A shake-up to the city council
After initially filing for re-election, Councilor Nick Campion decided to withdraw his name after other candidates emerged in the Ward 3 race. Campion, the longest-serving member of the council, said dropping out would allow others the opportunity to serve, while giving him more time to spend with his family. “Love the job. Love the community. Just love my family more,” he said. The four candidates vying for Campion’s seat are Casey McGregor, Svaar David Vinje, Norman Wahl, and Vangie Castro. In Ward 1, incumbent Councilor Patrick Keane will face challenges from Andy Hemenway and Daniel Sepeda. The Ward 5 race will have incumbent Councilor Shaun Palmer going up against Saida Omar.
Coalition takes aim at the school board
Four candidates — Rae Parker, John Whelan, Kim Rishavy, and Elena Niehoff — are running for the Rochester School Board as part of an effort dubbed “4 Your Children.” According to its website, the candidates want to take on what they describe as “increasing violence, chaos in the classroom, less focus on academic subjects and more focus on ideological indoctrination,” among other issues. Three of the candidates affiliated with the 4 Your Children group will face incumbents this election cycle. (School Board Director Melissa Amundsen is not seeking re-election for Position 2.) Despite being split up by position, all school board races are citywide.
Position 2: Abdullahi Omar Yusuf, Justin Cook, Rae Parker
Position 4: John Whelan, Julie Workman (I)*
Position 5: Jean Marvin (I), Kimberly Rishavy, A. Mohamed “Chief”
Position 6: Cathy Nathan, Elena Niehoff, Patrick Farmer
*No primary necessary
Six county board seats are on the ballot
Due to redistricting in response to the recent census, there will be elections for six of the seven seats for the Olmsted County Board of Commissioners this cycle. (The only seat that will not appear on the ballot is District 7, now represented by current Board Chair Mark Thein, because the district did not experience the population change to trigger another election.) Two of the races, in Districts 4 and 5, will require primaries; in District 6, longtime Commissioner Sheila Kiscaden will run unopposed. Other notable developments include the District 1 race where Laurel Podulke-Smith is seeking to win a seat that has been held by her family for 35 years, and in District 2 where retiring Republican State Sen. Dave Senjem is making a bid for local office.
District 1: Laurel Podulke-Smith, Loring Stead*
District 2: Dave Senjem, Gabe Perkins*
District 3: Karl Johnson, Gregg Wright (I)*
District 4: Steve Connelly, Michael Melford, Brian Mueller, Bill Pirkl, Kindra Ramaker
District 5: Evan Brown, Catherine Davis, Mike Macken, Michelle Rossman
District 6: Sheila Kiscaden (I)*
In other county races, Sheriff Kevin Torgerson is running unopposed. County Attorney Mark Ostrem is facing a challenge from current School Board Director Karen MacLaughlin.
*No primary necessary
The state legislative map will look different
Redistricting had the biggest impact on the races for the Minnesota Legislature. The Senate District 25, now held by Senjem, has been redrawn to include much more of Rochester than it did before. The 2022 race will match Republican Ken Navitsky up against DFL State Rep. Liz Boldon. The other Rochester seat, District 24 (formerly District 26), has become more rural due to the remapping — giving Republican State Sen. Carla Nelson a boost in her rematch with DFLer Aleta Borrud. In the area Minnesota House races, redistricting has led to two open seats, in 25A and 25B. Because candidates chose to abide by party endorsements at their respective conferences, there will be no primaries for any of the legislative seats.
House District 24A: Incumbent Duane Quam (R), Keith McLain (DFL)
House District 24B: Katrina Pulham (R), Incumbent Tina Liebling (DFL)
House District 25A: Kim Hicks (DFL), Wendy Phillips (R)
House District 25B: Andy Smith (DFL), John Robinson (R)
Additional notes:
Med City Beat will have additional coverage of the candidates for local office ahead of the primary and general elections.
We were only able to hyperlink candidates who included their campaign website in their election filing. If you are a candidate, or part of a campaign, and would like your website included, send us a note.
Sean Baker is a Rochester journalist and the founder of Med City Beat.
