Although the ballot for Cook County residents had only one race, for a Minnesota Supreme Court Justice, voters submitted mail ballots or headed to the polls at a higher rate than the rest of the state.
Cook County voters did follow the statewide trend and chose incumbent Associate Justice Natalie Hudson with 64.95 percent of the vote. Hudson defeated challengers Michelle L. MacDonald who claimed 20.49 percent of the vote in Cook County, followed by Craig Foss who received 14.56 percent of the vote.
Auditor Braidy Powers said 841 votes were cast, about 23 percent of the voters registered at 7 a.m. on election day, Tuesday, August 9. Statewide the turnout was only 8 percent. Powers was not surprised that voter turnout was low in Cook County, but said he was surprised that the local turnout was so much greater than the rest of the state.
On to the General Election
Part of the reason overall voter turnout was low is because there was just that Supreme Court race on the ballot. None of the seats that could have potentially been on the primary ballot needed narrowing to two candidates.
The election filing period for a number of local government positions closed on May 31, 2016. Only one race had more than one candidate file. Incumbent County Commissioner Garry Gamble will face challenger Myron Bursheim for Commissioner District 2, East Grand Marais.
Commissioner Heidi Doo-Kirk represents District 4, which includes Maple Hill and the Gunflint Trail. No one filed to run against Doo- Kirk.
The Soil and Water Conservation District has three supervisor seats up for election. The incumbents all filed for reelection and none of them—Donald Goodell (District 1); Joan Farnam Morrison (District 3); and Jerry Hiniker (District 5)—will see an opponent on the ballot.
The city of Grand Marais, School District 166 and North Shore Hospital do not participate in the August primary. The filing period for those offices opened on August 2 and remains open until August 16. Everyone who files to run for office will be on the General Election ballot.
In the city of Grand Marais, the mayor and two council seats will be on the ballot. Incumbents are Mayor Jay Arrowsmith DeCoux and councilors Tracy Benson and Tim Kennedy. Councilor Tim Kennedy has filed for re-election.
After the August 10 City Council meeting, Mayor Arrowsmith DeCoux told the News- Herald that he does intend to run for re-election.
Councilor Tracy Benson said she is still undecided.
City council terms are for four years and the mayor’s seat is for two years.
The cost to file to run for city council is $2 and applicants may file at Grand Marais City Hall.
School District 166 board seats to be on the next ballot are currently held by Terry Collins and Sissy Lunde.
Collins represents District 2, which is the Croftville and Grand Marais East area. Collins was appointed to the school board when Rod Wannebo resigned in March 2011. Earlier this year, Collins said he is not running for re-election. He told the News-Herald he very much enjoyed his time on the ISD 166 board and said, “I’m hopeful for the future of ISD 166. I hope the referendum and bond issue pass and I hope someone steps up to serve on the board.”
A candidate has come forward. Carrie Jensen of Grand Marais has filed to run for the District 2 School Board seat.
Lunde represents District 4, which is the Gunflint Trail and Maple Hill areas. Lunde has not yet decided if she will run again. At the last school board meeting on August 4, she reiterated what she told the News-Herald earlier, “For those people who are passionate about our school, this is your time. If you want to play a role in what happens at the school, run for the school board!”
School board terms are for four years. The cost to file to run for school board is $2 and candidates may file at the Cook County Auditor’s Office.
Two positions on the North Shore Health hospital board will be up for election this fall. District 2, which is currently held by Justin Mueller, and District 4, held by incumbent Kay Olson. Both have filed to run again.
Hospital board terms are for four years. The cost to file is $2 and candidates may file at the Auditor’s Office.
The General Election will be November 8, 2016.
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