Councilman Mike Conway Enters St. Cloud Mayoral Race

Originally published 8:18 a.m. May 7th, 2024

Updated 9:21 a.m. May 7th, 2024

(KNSI) — St. Cloud City Councilman Mike Conway has announced his intention to run for mayor.

He made his candidacy known in an exclusive interview with KNSI, saying, “I have come to a decision that I’m going to throw my hat into the ring to run for the position of mayor for the fine city of St. Cloud.”

Conway is in his sixth year on the city council. He says he is grateful and honored to have the title of Councilman and is “looking forward to the opportunity to step into the shoes of Mayor.”

He took the time to praise current Mayor Dave Kleis crediting him with leaving the city in great shape for the future. “He has set the city on a great path, and it’s taken a long time to get there. We have a very good, well established double A plus bond rating. Not many cities can say that, so some of my goals are to just not mess that up, and keep that going because that’s something that we need to do.”

Conway explained his ambition to “focus on the things that the citizens in the city of St. Cloud have said are important: police, fire, public safety, maintaining infrastructure.” Potholes and crumbling roads are being repaired, but Conway says, “there are still some roads that need some severe attention. We have some infrastructure, water, and sewer lines that need to be updated.”

Conway says another underlying item needing attention is “continuing to develop and grow the business community and make organizations more prevalent here in the city. We have the ability to do private and public partnerships. Now, that means that the city is not necessarily going to fund all this because there are certain things the city should be doing; police, fire, roads, sewer, water. There’s also some things the city shouldn’t be doing. So part of being the mayor is understanding what the city should be involved in what the city shouldn’t be involved in and supporting the growth and development of the city overall.”

“It’s not fancy, it’s not flashy, but that’s really what I think the mayor’s office are supposed to do.”

The ball has been rolling on revitalizing downtown St. Cloud, and Conway says he wants to run with that. “It sets a foundation for growth and development within the downtown corridor.”

St. Cloud has been plagued by a severe housing shortage. Conway says the city has seen the “proliferation of apartments and quick housing solutions,” but it wants to start focusing on long-term development, such as new neighborhoods and supporting existing neighborhoods.

Conway serves on the St. Cloud Housing and Redevelopment Authority Board of Commissioners, Central Region Emergency Services Board and the Visit Greater St. Cloud Board. He has lived in St. Cloud for 30 years and graduated from St. Cloud State University with a degree in biology education. Conway has worked for Wolters Kluwer for 20 years while coaching youth hockey and remaining involved with numerous community organizations.

Conway joins fellow council member Carol Lewis and former St. Joseph City Councilwoman Anne Buckvold in announcing a run for mayor. The official filing period opens on May 21st. If all three do file paperwork, it would set the stage for an August showdown in a primary.

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