Rematch of two Edina residents set for District 6 Hennepin Board seat

Two Edina residents will face off again for the District 6 seat on the Hennepin County Board, filing for the November ballot just weeks after competing in a special election for the seat.

Heather Edelson, a three-term state representative who resigned from the House after the 2024 legislative session ended, defeated businesswoman Marisa Simonetti in the May 14 special election with 54% of the vote.

County board races are nonpartisan, but Edelson and Simonetti differ ideologically.

Edelson, a DFLer, emphasized during the recent campaign her experience on the House Human Services policy committee and work as a therapist. Simonetti, a Republican, said she entered the race to address rising crime and residents’ increased tax burden.

Edelson filed for re-election on May 31, just days before being sworn in Tuesday to finish Commissioner Chris LaTondresse’s term after he stepped down in September to lead a St. Paul-based housing nonprofit.

Edelson will face Simonetti again in the fall for a full four-year term on the board.

The special election to replace LaTondresse drew just 11,386 of the more than 126,000 registered voters in the district, which includes Edina, Greenwood, Hopkins, Minnetonka, Eden Prairie, Shorewood and Wayzata.

Nearly 98,000 District 6 voters cast ballots when the seat was last on the November ballot in 2020.

It is one of four board seats up for election this fall. An August primary is not needed because only two candidates filed for each of them by the Tuesday’s deadline.

After the state government, Hennepin County’s is the second-largest in Minnesota. Its board of seven commissioners oversees about 10,000 employees and an annual budget of nearly $2.7 billion.

Hennepin County commissioners earn $122,225 annually.

In District 1, Commissioner Jeffrey Lunde is being challenged by Gulled Ahmed Badel of Brooklyn Center. Lunde was first elected to the board in 2020 and is a former Brooklyn Park mayor and council member. Badel has never sought elected office.

The district includes Brooklyn Park, Brooklyn Center, Crystal, New Hope and Robbinsdale.

In District 5, Commissioner Debbie Goettel is running for a third term and facing Jeffrey A. Beck of Eden Prairie. Beck previously ran for the board and served on the county’s soil and water district. Goettel was first elected in 2016.

The district includes Bloomington, Richfield, Eden Prairie and Chanhassen.

In District 7, first-term Commissioner Kevin Anderson is facing Brad Kohler of Champlin, a former mixed martial arts fighter who has run for Congress and the Legislature.

The district stretches from Minnetrista to Champlin and includes Medina, Maple Grove, Rogers and Dayton.