Matt Little, Kathy Keena lead Dakota County Attorney race

Outgoing state Rep. Rena Moran took a commanding lead in her primary for Ramsey County Commissioner.

August 10, 2022 at 2:08PM
After an initial surge of voters came to cast primary ballots at Zion Lutheran Church in Anoka, things slowed down with no lines mid-morning on Tuesday, Aug. 9, 2022. (Brian Peterson, Star Tribune/The Minnesota Star Tribune)

Twin Cities voters decided Tuesday who will head to the November general election in a slate of contested local races.

Candidates jockeyed to oust incumbents and fill open seats, including some vacant for the first time in decades.

Below is a rundown of select metro-area primaries.

Dakota County

Four candidates competed for two spots in the November Dakota County Attorney race, and interim County Attorney Kathy Keena and Matt Little will move forward to the general election.

County commissioner races also narrowed Tuesday. Commissioners Joe Atkins and Mary Liz Holberg each faced two challengers. Atkins and South St. Paul Mayor Jimmy Francis will face off in District 2 while Holberg and Mike Robole will advance in District 6.

Four candidates competed for the open District 4 seat. Bill Droste and Seema Maddali will vie for the seat this fall.

Ramsey County

Three Ramsey County commissioner seats were on the primary ballot.

Ying Vang-Pao and Mai Chong Xiong will compete for the District 6 seat vacated by retiring Commissioner Jim McDonough. The primary whittled down a field of seven candidates.

Outgoing State Rep. Rena Moran, DFL-St. Paul, took a commanding lead early in the race for the District 4 seat vacated by retiring Commissioner Toni Carter, and will run against Pastor Darryl Spence in November.

Commissioner Rafael Ortega, who represents District 5, also led his primary by a wide margin. He will run against Bill Hosko.

Washington County

Two outgoing state legislators bested a political newcomer for the District 4 seat on the Washington County Board.

Sen. Karla Bigham, DFL-Cottage Grove and Rep. Keith Franke, R-St. Paul Park, took an early lead in the primary for the nonpartisan seat. The winner in November will fill the spot being vacated by Wayne Johnson, who did not seek re-election.

Scott County

Scott County Board Chair Mike Beard is not seeking re-election, and three candidates sought to fill his seat. Shakopee City Council Member Jody Brennan and former Council Member Mike Luce will face off in the November election.

North metro

Brooklyn Center Mayor Mike Elliott will face Council Member April Graves in November, after the two rose to the top of a four-candidate field Tuesday.

In Brooklyn Park, Hollies Winston and Wynfred Russell will move on to the general election, vying to become the city's first Black mayor.

Columbia Heights Mayor Amáda Márquez Simula decisively won her primary, and will run against Cliff Johnson in November.

In the race for Anoka County Sheriff, candidates Paul Lenzmeier and Brad Wise easily edged out Thomas Gagnon.

Minneapolis Public Schools

Tuesday's primary narrowed the field for Minneapolis school board at-large seats and the District 5 seat.

KerryJo Felder, Collin Beachy, Sonya Emerick and Lisa Skjefte will be on the ballot for the two at-large seats in November. Skjefte narrowly defeated Jaton White to be the fourth candidate for the citywide position.

Lori Norvell will run against Laurelle Myhra for the District 5 seat representing southeast Minneapolis.

Felder, Beachy and Norvell were endorsed by the Minneapolis teachers union.

Staff writers Mara Klecker and Tim Harlow contributed to this report.

about the writers

about the writers

Shannon Prather

Reporter

Shannon Prather covers Ramsey County for the Star Tribune. Previously, she covered philanthropy and nonprofits. Prather has two decades of experience reporting for newspapers in Minnesota, California, Idaho, Wisconsin and North Dakota. She has covered a variety of topics including the legal system, law enforcement, education, municipal government and slice-of-life community news.

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Erin Adler

Reporter

Erin Adler is a suburban reporter covering Dakota and Scott counties for the Star Tribune, working breaking news shifts on Sundays. She previously spent three years covering K-12 education in the south metro and five months covering Carver County.

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