VOTER’S GUIDE 2022 echo press | Wednesday, October 12, 2022
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Be an informed voter in Nov. 8 election Candidates running for office answer questions By Al Edenloff aedenloff@echopress.com Big decisions await voters in Douglas County. In addition to the statewide races for governor, secretary of state, attorney general and a U.S. representative race in the 7th District, Douglas County voters will select office holders for school boards, city councils, Douglas County Board, Minnesota Senate and Minnesota House. In an effort to help voters make a more informed decision, the Echo Press sent questionnaires to 21 candidates in key contested races and their responses are included in this Voter’s Guide. To bring local voters up to speed, here’s a recap of those 21 candidates: Alexandria School Board, Position 2 – Vern Engstrom vs. Alan Zeithamer. Alexandria School Board, Position 3 – Lynne Lommen vs. Shawn Reilly. Alexandria School Board, Position 4 – Laura Knudsen vs. Sandy Susag. Douglas County Board, District 2 – Tim Kalina vs. Jim Stratton. Douglas County Board, District 5 – Heather Larson vs. Shane Schmidt. Alexandria City Council, Ward 4 – Nicole Mace vs. Ronald Sik. Minnesota Senate District 12 – Torrey Westrom vs. Kari Dorry vs. Ashley Klingbeil. Minnesota Senate District 9 – Jordan Rasmusson vs. Cornel Walker. Minnesota House District 12B – Mary Franson vs. Jeremy Vinar. Minnesota House District 9B – Tom Murphy vs. Jason Satter. In addition to those races, voters throughout Douglas County will have other decisions to make at the city, school and township level. The filing period for cities, school boards and townships that do not have primary elections opened Aug. 2 and closed on Aug. 16. It resulted in 13 contested races: City of Brandon – three can-
didates filed for two council positions, Jesse Beaumia, Jordyn Bossert and Kevin Wade Challes. City of Carlos – three candidates are running for mayor. They are Todd Burgess, Kelly Kees and Lyle Yochim. Also three people are running for two spots in a special council election.
They are Ronna Berghoff, Diane Rounds and Ashley Wildman. City of Evansville – Michael Hudson and Emmitt Messer are vying for a special election seat on the council. City of Kensington – Brock Green, Jared Johnson and Joe Miles filed for two positions on the city council. City of Miltona – Alan Bettermann and Brian Carpenter both filed for mayor. Also, five candidates are vying for two council seats, Kevin Lee, Joseph Leesch, Mickey Lint, David Ward and Pam Ward. City of Osakis – Three candidates, Randy Anderson, Laura Backes and Stephanie Finnegan, filed for two city council seats that are up for election. Osakis School Board – five candidates filed for three spots on the board. They are Fran Breiter, Greg Faber, Corey Goodwin, Jeffrey Kalpin and Jonathan Ries. Minnewaska School Board – six people filed for three positions on the board and include
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Miriah Cassidy, Will Harvey, Zachery Lagred, Amanda Ogdahl, Ted Reichmann and Randall Sander. Also, two candidates filed for another position on the school board, Lisa Martin and Justin Zavadil. West Central Area School Board – six candidates filed for three positions. They are Persephone England, Anthony Green, Michelle Nessman, Jared Olson, Dale Rau, Sara Strunk. Parkers Prairie School Board – five people filed for four positions. They are Christy Hart, Shawn Hoemberg, Steven Inwards, Judith Moeller and Brad Ost. Depending on where you live, there may also be questions on your ballot. Voters in Carlos Township, for example, will decide whether to allow the Carlos Township Board to charge property owners who violate state law for removing snow and ice left on or in the right-of-way of a township road if it’s deemed to be a maintenance or safety hazard. As has been the case in past elections, some local positions will be decided by write-in votes because no one filed. This includes Forada city clerk/treasurer; Garfield mayor; Millerville mayor; and Brandon-Evansville School Board members at large, which drew two candidates, Jana Anderson and Stacy Beaumia, for three positions. Candidates for several other local positions that are up for election are running unopposed on the ballot. This includes four incumbent elected officials for Douglas County – Auditor/Treasurer Vicki Doehling, Sheriff Troy Wolbersen, Attorney Chad Larson and Recorder Mary Skillings. Remember, changes were made in the boundaries of the jurisdictions because of redistricting, which is done every 10 years to reflect changes in population. Some voters will be seeing names on their ballots that they’ve never seen before.
HHHHH Who is on your ballot? Here’s a quick way to find out who is on your ballot. Go to the Echo Press website, www.echopress.com. Click on ELECTION 2022 at the top of the page. Or on your smartphone, click on the “hamburger” (the three short lines at the top left of the page) and then click on ELECTION 2022. From there, you can type in your address to find out who will be on your ballot or browse through stories about the election and the candidates. You can also get answers to common questions such as, “What are the different ways I can vote?” “Who is eligible to vote?” “Can I register to vote on Election Day?” “Where do I vote?” “How do I report voter fraud?” “How can I check if I am already registered?” “What should I bring to the polls?” or “Who do I ask if I have a question about voting?” Our ELECTION 22 link also includes archived stories about candidates and the election. The important thing: Get involved in the process and make informed decisions this election. It’s an important one. Listen to the wise words of Abraham Lincoln: “Elections belong to the people. It’s their decision. If they decide to turn their back on the fire and burn their behinds, then they will just have to sit on their blisters.”
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