Packed Field Awaits Voters for August Primary

(KNSI) – Voters will have plenty of candidates to choose from to represent them in their local government offices come August as the filing deadline closed at 5:00 p.m. Tuesday afternoon.

According to the Minnesota Secretary of State, six candidates have filed to run for mayor in St. Cloud, and 16 are vying for one of three council at large seats.

Current council members Jake Anderson, Mike Conway and Carol Lewis are among the mayoral candidates. Others include former St. Joseph Council member and Minnesota House candidate Anne Buckvold, scented oil salesman Steven Schiller, who lost to Mayor Dave Kleis in 2020, and James Trantine with Collins Brothers towing. Kleis opted not to run for another term after serving in the role since 2005.

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

Sauk Rapids Mayor Kurt Hunstiger also announced he would not run for another term. Jason Ellering, Andrew Neussendorfer and Nicholas Sauer are looking to take his place.

In Sartell, two city council seats are open. Three candidates, Rustin Deters, Marshall Grams, and Pat Lynch are running to fill them.

These races will go to the voters on August 13th during the state’s local primary election.

Other local races not requiring a primary include the two open seats on the Sauk Rapids city council. Kyle Boron, Clinton Holmgren, David Rixe and Dottie Seamans are looking to fill those roles.

The Stearns County Board of Commissioners has a race in District 2 between incumbent Joe Perske and challenger Jerry Theisen.

Seven people are running for one of four seats in St. Cloud Area School District 742: incumbent Scott Andreasen, Yoanna Ayala-Zaldana, Al Dahlgren, Diana Fenton, Shannon Haws, Bruce Hentges, and Monica Segura-Schwartz.

In House District 14A, incumbent Bernie Perryman is being challenged by Abdi Daisane. For District 14B, Sue Ek announced she will be the Republican challenger to Democratic incumbent Representative Dan Wolgamott. In District 13A, House Minority Leader Lisa Demuth is running against Cindy Aho. In 13B, Representative Tim O’Driscoll is being challenged by Dusty Bolstad.

See who is on your ballot by clicking here.

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