Local races shape up after filing
The local city council races are beginning to shape up after the filing period for Spring Park, Mound and Minnetrista closed at 5 p.m. on Aug. 14.
After the filing period closed, here is a list of what the ballots will likely look like for local cities in the Nov. 6 general election. Candidates have until Aug. 16 to withdraw their filing, and any changes will be noted in the Aug. 25 Laker.
Mound
In Mound, there will be a race for the two-year mayor position as well as two different four-year council positions.
City Council incumbents Heidi Gesch and Ray Salazar have filed and will have to compete for their current seats with one other candidate — Danene Provencher. For mayor of Mound, there will be a * two-way race between current Mayor Mark Hanus and candidate Mark Regan. Tom Casey had filed for the mayor seat, but took himself out of the race by filing an Affidavit of Withdrawal on Thursday, Aug. 16.
Spring Park
In Spring Park, there will only be one race this November for a two-year city council seat after four different seats were up for reelection.
The only person to file for the two-year mayor of Spring Park seat was the incumbent Sarah Reinhardt. Incumbent Bruce Williamson and Spring Park resident Shirley Bren filed for the two four-year city council seats, so they will be the only two names on the ballot.
The special election for the two-year seat left by former Council Member Tom Scanlon will take place between two candidates. Jon Ericson and Elgah Trask will vie for that final spot.
Minnetrista
In Minnetrista, three candidates will compete for two of the four-year seats on the city council.
Incumbent Mark Vanderlinde will run against Minnetrista residents Justin Zenanko and Bob Christians for the two city council seats. Incumbent George Zenanko did not file for reelection.
Current Mayor Cheryl Fischer will likely be back as the only person to file for the seat.
Orono
Voters in Orono will select a mayor and two city councilors. The mayoral seat comes with a two-year term and the city council seats come with four-year terms.
Incumbent Mayor Lili McMillan was the only person to file for mayor.
There will be a contested race for city councilor, though, as four people filed for the two seats. Incumbent Doug Franchot filed as did Kristi Anderson, Lizz Levang and Dennis Walsh. The second incumbent, David Rahn, did not file for re-election.
- Information from Amanda Schwarze also used in this report
* Note: At the time of print publication in The Laker, there was a note of a three-way race for mayor of Mound. On Thursday, Aug. 16, Thomas E. Casey filed an Affidavit of Withdrawal to take him out of the race.
