Election Information

Keep in mind:

District candidates will appear on the ballot only in the specified districts. Duluth City Council District 5 represents West Duluth and neighborhoods farther west. Duluth School Board District 2 represents the Endion, Congdon, Chester Park and Kenwood areas.

The filing period for Duluth city and school board offices closed on July 21. Below are the offices up for grabs and the names of those who filed. The Primary Election will be held Tuesday, Sept. 15.

 
Duluth Mayor
(Top two candidates advance to General Election)
Thomas Cooper
John Howard Evans
Jane Hammerstrom Hoffman (withdrew)
Howie Hanson
Chuck Horton
Emily Larson
James Mattson
Robert D. Schieve
John Socha

At-large Duluth City Councilors
(Two positions; no primary in this race, all four candidates advance)
Jim Booth
Elissa Hansen
Noah Hobbs
Kriss Osbakken

First District Duluth City Councilor
(No primary in this race; both candidates advance)
Gary Anderson
Karl Spring

Second District Duluth City Councilor
(No primary in this race; candidate is unopposed)
Joel Sipress

Third District Duluth City Councilor
(No primary in this race, both candidates advance)
Jay Cole (withdrew)
Barri Love
Em Westerlund

Fifth District Duluth City Councilor
(Top two candidates advance)
Allan Beaulier
Derrick Ellis
Jay Fosle
Janet Kennedy

At-large Duluth School Board Member
(Top two candidates advance)
Alanna Oswald
Jim H. Unden
Renee K. VanNett

District Two Duluth School Board Member
(Top two candidates advance)
Jane Hammerstrom Hoffman
David Kirby
Charles Obije

District Three Duluth School Board Member
(No primary in this race; both candidates advance)
Loren Martell
Nora Sandstad

With 4,106 of 4,106 precincts reporting, it’s a DFL sweep. Here are the statewide results for races relevant to Duluth.
 
FEDERAL OFFICES

United States Senator
Al Franken (Democratic-Farmer-Labor) – 1,053,156 | 53.14%
Mike McFadden (Republican) – 850,504 | 42.92%
Steve Carlson (Independence) – 47,544 | 2.40%
Heather Johnson (Libertarian) – 29,698 | 1.50%

United States Representative, Minnesota District 8
Rick Nolan (Democratic-Farmer-Labor) – 128,860 | 48.50%
Stewart Mills (Republican) – 125,201 | 47.12%
Ray “Skip” Sandman (Green) – 11,437 | 4.30%
  (more…)

With 4,106 of 4,106 precincts reporting statewide, the full results are in. Listed are the races relevant to Duluth. (more…)

There are plenty of federal, state, judicial and county offices up for grabs this year, but no Duluth City Council or Duluth School Board races. Sifting in which of the active races apply to Duluthians and sifting out which are uncontested until the General Election is a bit of a chore, but the info below might be as simple as it can be laid out while remaining thorough.

Remember: Aug. 12 is one of those Primary Elections in which you have to choose a party. You can’t, for example, vote for a Republican governor and a DFL congressman. On the partisan portion of the ballot you have to vote for the same party in all races. Below are the contests that will be on that ballot, and some notes about what will be part of the Nov. 4 General Election.
 
 
FEDERAL OFFICES

United States Senator, Independence Party
Tom Books
Steve Carlson
Jack Shepard
Kevin Terrell
Stephen Williams

United States Senator, Republican Party
Jim Abeler
David Carlson
Mike McFadden
Patrick D. Munro
Ole Savior

United States Senator, Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party
Al Franken
Sandra Henningsgard

United States Senator, Libertarian Party
Heather Johnson is unopposed in her party and will be on the General Election ballot.

United States Representative, Minnesota District 8
There will be no primary in this race. Green Party candidate Ray “Skip” Sandman, Republican Stewart Mills and Democratic-Farmer-Labor candidate Rick Nolan are unopposed in their parties and will be on the General Election ballot.
(more…)

With 11 of 11 precincts reporting:

Patrick Boyle — 2,783 (65.5 percent)
Jim Stauber — 1,465 (34.5 percent)

39 of 39 precincts reporting

Duluth At-large City Councilor
Top two candidates are elected
Zack Filipovich – 9,658 | 33%
Barb Russ – 9,364 | 32%
Ryan Stauber – 7,884 | 27%
Ray (Skip) Sandman – 2,490 | 8%
Write in – 115 | 0%

Duluth Second District City Councilor
Patrick Boyle – 2,195 | 97%
Write in – 61 | 3%

Duluth Fourth District City Councilor
Howie Hanson – 1,853 | 61%
Garry Krause – 1,153 | 38%
Write in – 44 | 1%
(more…)

Click to see it larger. Keep in mind some races will not appear on your ballot, depending on which part of town you reside in.

With 34 of 34 precincts reporting:

Duluth At-large City Councilor
Four candidates advance to general election; two will be elected
Barb Russ – 3,943 | 35.8%
Zack Filipovich – 3,081 | 28.0%
Ryan Stauber – 2,295 | 20.8%
Ray (Skip) Sandman – 1,175 | 10.7%
Ray Whitledge III – 525 | 4.8%

Duluth At-large School Board
Four candidates advance to general election; two will be elected
Annie Harala – 2,850 | 25.9%
Harry Welty – 2,103 | 19.1%
Nancy Nilsen – 1,948 | 17.7%
Henry L. Banks – 1,835 | 16.7%
Loren Martell – 1,175 | 10.7%
Joshua Bixby – 1,043 | 9.9%

Duluth District One School Board
Two candidates advance to general election; one will be elected
Rosie Loeffler-Kemp – 871 | 54.3%
Joseph Matthes – 454 | 28.3%
Marcia Stromgren – 278 | 17.3%

Duluth District Four School Board
Two candidates advance to general election; one will be elected
David Bolgrien – 463 | 37.6%
Art Johnston – 411 | 33.4%
Justin Perpich – 356 | 28.9%

The filing period to run for city and school board offices in Duluth runs from July 2 to July 16. This page will update as the candidates file.

The primary election will be held on Sept. 10; the general election will be Nov. 5.

Duluth Second District City Councilor
Patrick Boyle, 2201 E. First St.

Duluth Fourth District City Councilor
Howie Hanson, 2864 Wellington St.
Garry Krause, 1220 Stanford Ave.

Duluth At-large City Councilor
Four candidates advance to general election; two will be elected
Zack Filipovich, 219 S. 21st Ave. E., Upper Apt.
Barb Russ, 322 N. 22nd Ave. E.
Ray (Skip) Sandman, 2602 W. Sixth St.
Ryan Stauber, 4723 Pitt St.
Ray Whitledge III, 202 N. 24th Ave. W.

Duluth District One School Board
Rosie Loeffler-Kemp, 2902 Bald Eagle Trail
Joseph Matthes, 5319 Colorado St.
Marcia Stromgren, 6179 Lakewood Rd 55804

Duluth District Four School Board
David Bolgrien, 1306 N. 57th Ave. W.
Art Johnston, 37 N. 93rd Ave. W.
Justin Perpich, 4211 W. Seventh St.

Duluth At-large School Board
Top two candidates are elected
Henry Banks, P.O. Box 16811, 55816
Joshua Bixby, 2809 E. First St.
Annie Harala, 1129 N. Seventh Ave. E.
Loren Martell, 623 E. Seventh St.
Nancy Nilsen, 446 N. 85th Ave. W.
Harry Welty, 2101 E. Fourth St.

Here’s the statewide numbers for races relevant to Duluth.

United States Senator, Independence Party
Stephen Williams – 3,068 | 60%
Glen R. Anderson Menze – 2,074 | 40%

United States Senator, Republican Party
Kurt Bills – 63,380 | 51%
David Carlson – 43,850 | 35%
Bob Carney Jr. – 16,755 | 14%

United States Senator, Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party
Amy Klobuchar – 183,702 | 91%
“Dick” Franson – 6,831 | 3%
Jack Edward Shepard – 6,638 | 3%
Darryl Stanton – 5,161 | 3%

United States Representative for Minnesota District 8, Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party
Richard Nolan – 20,839 | 38%
Tarryl L. Clark – 17,540 | 32%
Jeff Anderson – 15,978 | 29%

Minnesota House District 7A, DFL Party
Thomas Huntley – 3,337 | 82%
Brandon Clokey – 756 | 18%

St. Louis County Commissioner, District 3
Chris Dahlberg – 1,658 | 55%
Debbie Isabell-Nelson – 1,188 | 40%
Dennis Szymialis – 160 | 5%

Minnesota Supreme Court Chief Justice:
Lorie Skjerven Gildea – 145,004 | 50%
Dan Griffith – 85,828 | 29%
Jill Clark – 61,242 | 21%

Minnesota Supreme Court Associate Justice 4:
David R. Stras – 139,197 | 49%
Tim Tingelstad – 83,942 | 29%
Alan Nelson – 61,908 | 22%

There is less than a month to get the candidates straight for the Minnesota State and St. Louis County Primary Election on Aug. 14. (more…)

Congratulations to new city councilors Jennifer Julsrud (pending recount), Garry Krause (returning to the council after time off), Linda Krug and Emily Larson.

For the School Board, the winners are incumbent Judy Seliga Punyko and newcomers Michael Miernicki and Bill Westholm.

As for the various questions on the ballot, it’s good for parks and bad for schools. (more…)

PDD is conducting a bit of an experiment in today’s race for the District One Duluth City Council seat between incumbent Todd Fedora and challenger Jennifer Julsrud. UMD journalism students we be poll watching at the seven precincts in District One, and they will be hustling to report the results in record time. (more…)

Brush up on your referendums, kids. The city and the school district have some wordy questions for you. (By the way, you should be able to click on the images below to see them larger and read them more easily. The city question is the back side of the ballot, and is a separate image below.)

Another note about the ballot: As usual, depending on what neighborhood you live in, you might also vote on a district city councilor and/or school board member. This ballot has the district council race blanked out and does not include a district school board race.

With 36 of 36 precincts reporting and 6,620 total ballots cast:

At-large Duluth City Councilors
(Two positions; top four candidates advance)
Emily Larson – 4,918 | 40%
Linda Krug – 4,860 | 40%
Tim Riley – 947 | 8%
Chad Smith – 645 | 5%
Eric Edwardson – 446 | 4%
Gareth W. Bates – 442 | 4%

Fourth District Duluth City Councilor
(Top two candidates advance.)
Jacqueline Halberg – 695 | 44%
Garry Krause – 649 | 41%
Ryan Miles – 134 | 9%
Wallace Newquist – 59 | 4%
Travis Silvers – 29 | 2%

At-large Duluth School Board Member
(Top two candidates advance.)
Michael Miernicki – 3,783 | 61%
Ryan Stauber – 1,882 | 30%
Doug Frisk – 515 | 8%

Superior Mayor
Bruce Hagen — 2,099 | 69%
Kevin Peterson — 710 | 23%
Don Raihala — 120 | 4%
Gilbert Davidson — 113 | 4%

Bruce Hagen and Kevin Peterson advance to the General Election on April 5.

Now that the challenged ballots from St. Louis County are available online, here’s a look at the nine from Duluth.

The first one is from precinct 3 (Lakeside) and the next two are from precinct 7 (Hunters Park).

In the next set, the first is from precinct 11 (Kenwood) and the next two are from precinct 19 (Downtown).

In the last set, the first is from precinct 24 (Duluth Heights), the second is from precinct 27 (Piedmont Heights) and the third is from precinct 34 (West Duluth).

Someone explain why this is so fun.