Minnetonka mayor has strong lead

It appeared that Minnetonka Mayor Brad Wiersum would retain his job Tuesday evening, garnering nearly 63% of the votes in his re-election bid against John Kuhl, a Hopkins school board member.

The city's new ranked-choice voting system was more of a factor in the race for two at-large City Council seats that drew a field of 10 candidates. Incumbent Deb Calvert was the clear first-choice winner with nearly 55% of the votes, while Iola Kostr­zewski, director at-large for Stonewall DFL, was leading the second-choice results with close to 29%.

Candidate Kimberly Wilburn earned the most votes by mid-evening for the council seat to be vacated by Susan Carter, who chose not to seek re-election, but the race lacked a clear majority winner as of press time.

In Bloomington, City Council members Nathan Coulter and Patrick Martin were being challenged for their at-large and Fourth District seats, respectively. While Martin garnered the majority of first-choice votes, there wasn't an immediate winner in the at-large seat race, though Coulter was leading with 47% of the votes with 30 of the city's 32 precincts reporting.

Four candidates vied for the open Third District council seat, for which two-term Council Member Jack Baloga chose not to seek re-election. Lona Dallessandro, who was endorsed by Mayor Tim Busse and other council members, had received nearly 52% of first-choice votes in early returns.

In Golden Valley, seven candidates were running for two City Council positions, including incumbent Gillian Rosenquist, who garnered more than 29% of the votes at mid-evening. Denise La Mere-Anderson, chair of the city's Human Services Commission, captured closed to 25%. Both candidates had campaigned together with the support of Mayor Shep Harris.

In St. Louis Park, three candidates vied for the open Third Ward seat. Sue Budd had a slight lead over Jim Leuthner for the open Third Ward seat.

Kim Hyatt