Edina is well represented in the race to be the next Hennepin County Commissioner for District 6.
Six candidates, all from Edina, file for open Hennepin County Board seat
A special primary will be needed to narrow the field for the May 14 special election.
The Minnesota Star Tribune
March 13, 2024 at 11:56AM
All six of the candidates who filed by the Tuesday, March 12, deadline are from Edina, one of the largest cities in the district. The seat has been vacant since September.
The large field means there will be a special primary on April 30 to narrow it down to two candidates. The special election for the nonpartisan race is May 14.
The candidates who filed are: state Rep. Heather Edelson, political consultant Patrick Gage, Normandale Community College director of procurement Janet Kitui, nonprofit leader Daniel Moret, businesswoman Marisa Simonetti and Hopkins School Board member Jen Westmoreland.
Candidates have until 5 p.m. Thursday to withdraw from the race.
The seven-seat County Board oversees an annual budget of $2.7 billion. Hennepin County has nearly 10,000 employees and is the second largest government in Minnesota, after the state bureaucracy.
The county is Minnesota’s largest with almost 1.3 million residents.
The District 6 seat has 66 precincts and includes parts of Edina, Greenwood, Hopkins, Minnetonka, Eden Prairie, Shorewood and Wayzata.
The seat is vacant after Chris LaTondresse resigned last year to lead Beacon Interfaith Housing Collaborative in St. Paul. The winner of the special election will serve out the remainder of LaTondresse’s term, which expires in December 2024.
The seat will be up for election again in November. Hennepin County commissioners typically serve four-year terms and earn $119,244 annually.
The governor said it may be 2027 or 2028 by the time the market catches up to demand.
