Election season is here
There are four basic seasons every year. Only this year, you can add a fifth — “Election Season.” Like dandelions in the spring, election signs have been popping up all over the Minneota area, as the November 6 General Election gets closer and closer.
There are state-wide, local and even national implications at stake. Locally, Minneota has a four-seat, six candidate school board election to settle.
While there are three candidates running for three spots in the Minneota City Council race, one incumbent is stepping down and a former councilwoman will be trying to get back on the council.
County-wide, the focus has come off the sheriff’s race. When Sheriff Mark Mather announced his retirement, four candidates jumped forward.
Two were eliminated in the primary and one, Jim Marshall, accepted the top police position in the city of Marshall and dropped out of the race.
That leaves Eric Wallen, who continues to campaign heavily for the job. It’s a different story in adjacent Lincoln County, where incumbent sheriff Chad Meester is receiving heavy competition from deputy and challenger Nathan Nafziger.
Nafziger has made it clear he’s not happy with the way Meester operates the office both fiscally and personally.
In the Minneota School Board Race, all four incumbents with their terms expired filed for re-election. They are Board Chairman Dawn Van Keulen, Larry Buysse, Jeff Buysse and Doug Spanton. Challengers looking to unseat two of them are Tom Skorczewski and Abby Thostenson.
As for the Minneota City Council, Mayor John Rolbiecki is running unopposed. Councilman Jerry Teigland is not running again this year. Instead, former councilwoman Nancy Reisdorfer says when she found out the incumbent wasn’t running she wanted to make sure there was someone to fill and so she filed for the office.
Appointed incumbent Tim Koppien is running to get back on the board. One of the races finds a young man named Tom Wyatt-Yerka of Marshall running against the experienced Republican incumbent Chris Swedzinski.
They are both seeking Minnesota House Senate District 16A seat held by Swedzinski the past three terms.
Wyatt-Yerka is a young man who was endorsed by his party to oppose a well-known incumbent. Minnesota Congressman Collin Peterson (D) is being opposed by Dave Hughes for the congressional seat. Hughes ran against Peterson in the last election and the result was tighter than Peterson expected.
Hughes is hoping it’s even closer this time around. There are four candidates for two U. S. Senate seats open in the state of Minnesota. Incumbents Amy Klobuchar and Tina Smith, both democrats are opposed by Karen Housely and Jim Newberger.
Housley is said to be running a tight race for a senate seat. And the governor’s seat is wide open with Democrat Tim Walz going against the Republican Choice, Jeff Johnson. Eric Wallen is seeking sheriff in Lyon County.
See the rundown on the candidates in different stories on the website or check out the "2018 Election Editon" special section at the bottom of the Mascot website homepage.