Brooklyn Center ousted Mayor Mike Elliott in favor of challenger April Graves as Twin Cities voters flocked to the polls Tuesday to decide dozens of races for county commissioners, school board seats, suburban mayors and councils.
Graves, who works for the Minneapolis Health Department, serves on the Brooklyn Center City Council and promised to take “innovative steps to address racial and economic inequity” while increasing transparency, accountability and access to opportunities.
In neighboring Brooklyn Park, Hollies Winston defeated Wynfred Russell. He will become that city’s first Black mayor. Winston is the CEO of Guaranteed America, a business advocacy firm that supports minority-owned and small businesses.
Minneapolis Public Schools
Voters selected five new members for the Minneapolis school board Tuesday — a board that will face several big decisions, including the selection of a new superintendent to lead the state’s third-largest district. Collin Beachy and Sonya Emerick won the two at-large spots, defeating KerryJo Felder and Lisa Skjefte.
Lori Norvell won a seat in southeast Minneapolis over Laurelle Myhra. Fathia Feerayarre ran unopposed for the District 3 position, representing the Longfellow and Seward neighborhoods, and Abdul Abdi ran unopposed in District 1 in northeast Minneapolis.
Dakota County
In Dakota County, interim County Attorney Kathy Keena was leading early on against Matt Little in the race for county attorney, while four of the county’s seven districts had a contested county commissioner race. In District 1, Commissioner Mike Slavik was running unchallenged.
Commissioner Joe Atkins, representing District 4, defeated South St. Paul Mayor Jimmy Francis to replace outgoing Commissioner Kathleen Gaylord in District 2, which has new boundaries due to redistricting.
Incumbent Mary Liz Holberg had an early lead against Mike Robole, a small business owner, to serve District 6, which includes Lakeville.
Longtime Rosemount Mayor Bill Droste took an early lead against Dr. Seema Maddali, an emergency room physician, for the District 4 seat.
Commissioner Laurie Halverson was winning early on in the race against Janine Hudson in District 3, which represents portions of Eagan and Mendota and Mendota Heights. Hudson works for Hennepin County.
Scott and Carver counties
Scott County Attorney Ron Hocevar, who has been county attorney for nearly eight years, defeated challenger Allen Andersen.
In District 3, Shakopee City Council Member Jody Brennan defeated former Council Member Michael Luce and will replace outgoing Commissioner Michael Beard. Three Scott County commissioners also ran unopposed in their districts.
In Carver County, three county commissioners faced an opponent to keep their seat. In District 1, Commissioner Gayle Degler defeated Lisa Anderson, a leadership development consultant. Commissioner Tom Workman beat Jay Johnson, a retired environmental engineer, in District 2. In District 5, Commissioner John Fahey fended off Aaron Burkhart, a small-business owner.
East Metro
Four Ramsey County commissioner seats were on the ballot, including two open seats.
Mai Chong Xiong, a legislative aide to St. Paul Council Member Dai Thao and community organizer narrowly defeated Ying Vang-Pao, who owns a financial consulting business, in the race to fill the District 6 seat. The seat is being vacated by longtime Commissioner Jim McDonough.
Outgoing state Rep. Rena Moran, DFL-St. Paul, easily defeated Darryl Spence for the District 4 seat. The position is vacant due to the retirement of Commissioner Toni Carter.
In District 5, Commissioner Rafael Ortega held off challenger Bill Hosko, an architectural illustrator and small-business owner. In District 3, Commissioner Trista MatasCastillo bested David A. Singleton.
Ramsey County Sheriff Bob Fletcher and Ramsey County Attorney John Choi were reelected in uncontested races.
In Ramsey County’s largest suburb, Maplewood Mayor Marylee Abrams fended off challenger Diana Longrie, who had served as mayor from 2006 to 2009.
Roseville Mayor Dan Roe held back challenger Julie Marie Strahan, who is a sitting Roseville City Council member.
Residents in the private city of North Oaks unseated incumbent Mayor Kara Ries, electing challenger Krista Wolter, who is a real estate agent. City leaders was entangled in a legal battle with its founding family, heirs of railroad Magnet James J. Hill, in recent years dividing the community.
Washington County
Karla Bigham, DFL-Cottage Grove, squeaked out a victory for the District 4 county board seat against Rep. Keith Franke, R-St. Paul Park. Both legislators saw big changes to their district boundaries in recent redistricting, and decided to run for the nonpartisan county board seat as a result.
Commissioner Stan Karwoski defeated challenger Julie Ohs for the District 2 seat. Michelle Clasen won the District 5 seat, beating Andrea Date, who currently serves on the Woodbury City Council.
North Metro
In Columbia Heights, Mayor Amada Marquez Simula fended off challenger Cliff Johnson.
In the race for Anoka County Sheriff, Brad Wise, the former Coon Rapids police chief, defeated Paul Lenzmeier, who works for the sheriff’s office as a division commander.
All seven Anoka County board seats were on the ballot with six incumbents winning their races. Commissioner Matt Look defeated Kevin Landry. Commissioner Jeff Reinert bested challenger Cindy Hansen and Commissioner Scott Schulte won against Raymond Zeran. Commissioner Mike Gamache defeated Tracy Strombeck. Commissioner Mandy Meisner bested challenger Joseph Sturdevant. Commissioner Julie Braastad ran unopposed.
Julie Jeppson, a nonprofit leader and Blaine City Council member, defeated Dave Clark for the open District 6 seat.