Election to decide four seats on Hennepin County Board

Four seats on the Hennepin County Board are up for election Tuesday, including a couple contests that have drawn more headlines than usual.

The races include one between an incumbent board member and a challenger who has embraced the label of “tarantula tosser,” and another that pits a former mixed martial arts fighter with a criminal record against a sitting commissioner.

The winners will serve four-year terms on the seven-person board. Commissioners salaries will be $128,336 in 2025.

In District 6, incumbent Heather Edelson is seeking re-election. She was a three-term DFL state representative who resigned from the House after the 2024 legislative session ended.

Her opponent, Marisa Simonetti, has run as a Republican, though the contest is nonpartisan. Simonetti grabbed headlines this summer when police arrested her for reportedly tossing a tarantula at a tenant of her Edina home.

Edelson defeated Simonetti in a May special election held after the district’s previous commissioner resigned to lead a nonprofit. The district encompasses Edina, Greenwood, Hopkins, Minnetonka, Eden Prairie, Shorewood and Wayzata.

In District 7, which stretches from Minnetrista to Champlin, incumbent Kevin Anderson has touted his work on the board, from expanding broadband access to the county’s push to end veteran homelessness. He was an IT professional before running for the seat in 2020.

Former mixed martial arts athlete Brad Kohler has focused on lowering taxes and bolstering public safety. The gym owner and restaurant manager has been convicted of several felonies, including malicious punishment of a child. He told The Star Tribune he’s learned from his mistakes and is committed to helping others.

In District 1, Gulled Ahmed Badel is running against incumbent Jeffrey Lunde for a seat representing the northeastern corner of Hennepin County, including Brooklyn Center, Brooklyn Park, Crystal, New Hope, Osseo and Robbinsdale.

Badel is based in Brooklyn Center, according to his candidate filing. Information beyond that isn’t readily available online.

Lunde, who was Brooklyn Park’s mayor for 10 years, wants to increase support for veterans facing homelessness, create a team of advocates for crime victims and expand services for students who fell behind during the pandemic, his website states.

In District 5, Jeffrey A. Beck is challenging incumbent Debbie Goettel in the district that includes Bloomington, south Eden Prairie, Richfield and part of southwest Minneapolis.

Beck, who ran unsuccessfully for County Board in 2004 and 2014, said at a candidate forum that housing stability is his top priority. He added that he wants to build thousands of low-income units across the county’s southern portion.

Goettel’s priorities include scoring funding to repair infrastructure, supporting small businesses and expanding transit options, her website states. She served as Richfield mayor before joining the County Board in 2016.