Minnesota Primary Election, Key Races for Congress, Mayoral Seats, and City Council on the Ballot

(KNSI) – During Tuesday’s primary election in Minnesota, voters will have a chance to choose who will appear on the November ballot.

The wheels of democracy will start turning in a handful of key races at the federal, state and local levels. Republican Congresswoman Michelle Fischbach is being challenged for the seat by Steve Boyd, who says Fischbach isn’t conservative enough. Boyd got significant support during the GOP convention in May to force a stalemate and prevent Fischbach from getting the endorsement. The party didn’t officially back either candidate.

St. Cloud voters will have a wide variety of options to vote for in the mayoral and city council races. It’s the first time in nearly 20 years the city will have a new mayor after Dave Kleis decided not to run for a sixth term earlier this year. The mayoral candidates are listed in alphabetical order:

Jake Anderson
Anne Buckvold
Mike Conway
Carol Lewis
Steven Dwaine Schiller
James F Trantina III

Voters can pick one candidate.

The city council has three citywide at-large seats open and 16 people looking to fill them. Again, in alphabetical order, they are:

Scott Brodeen
Tami Calhoun
Patrick Crooks
Alex Cutchey
Bill Doll
Mindy Ellingson
Charlie Hobbs
George Hontos
Lenora Hunt
Hudda Ibrahim
Mark Johnson
Nicholas Lengyel
Emmanuel Oppong
Michael H. Peterson
Omar Abdullahi Podi
Garrett Zimmerman

Listen to interviews done by St. Cloud Mayor Klies with candidates running for mayor and city council. The general election ballot will feature the top two primary vote getters for mayor and top six for city council.

In Sauk Rapids, three candidates have thrown their hat in the ring for mayor. Voters will pick their favorite out of Jason Ellering, Andrew Neussendorfer and Nicholas Sauer. Two advance to the general election.

Statewide, one race to watch involves the battle for the U.S. Republican Senate endorsement between Royce White and Joe Fraser, who was the expected front-runner leading up to the spring endorsement.

Minnesota voters are also expected to go to the polls in the Democratic primary between incumbent U.S. Representative Ilhan Omar and opponent Don Samuels.

Polls open statewide at 7:00 a.m. and close at 8:00 p.m.