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COOK COUNTY – The next candidate filing period for the fall elections started Tuesday, August 2, and runs through August 16. This round of filings is for three seats on the district 166 school board and three seats on the hospital board. The positions are for four-year terms.
North Shore Health
North Shore Health is a county owned hospital governed by a five-member elected board of directors, each of whom is elected for a four-year term. Up for election this fall are the district 1 (Grand Portage, Hovland, and Magney precincts) seat now held by Patty Winchell-Dahl, district 3 (Grand Marais West and Cascade precincts) seat now held by Steven Nielsen and the district 5 (Schroeder, Tofte, Lutsen and Pike Lake precincts) now held by Randy Wiitala. Winchell- Dahl was appointed to the board in February 2021 after the resignation of Sharon Bloomquist who had served on hospital the board for 32 years. The hospital board has not had a contested election since 2012. Nielsen and Wiitala were elected to open seats in 2018 and are completing their first terms. There are fourteen hospital districts in Minnesota with publicly elected boards.
Independent school district 166 (Cook County)
The five-member school board is elected using the same district lines as the hospital board. Up for election this fall are the district 1 seat now held by Debra White, the district 3 seat held by Rena Rogers, and the district 5 seat now held by Dan Shirley. White has served on the school board since 2010. Rogers was elected to the board in 2018 and is completing her first term. Shirley was appointed to fill a vacant seat in 2017 and elected to a full term in 2018. The school board has not had a contested election since 2008. However, in 2014 and again in 2020 there were open positions on the ballot with no candidates and write-in elections to fill the seats.
Candidates for both boards must file an Affidavit of Candidacy with the Cook County Auditor and pay a filing fee. More information on the elections can be found on the Cook County government web site and the web sites of North Shore Health and Independent School District 166.
Cook County elections and districts
Cook County elections are held in the fall of even numbered years EXCEPT for the three townships, Tofte, Schroeder and Lutsen, which hold annual elections in February. The county is divided into five election districts, based on equal population, for most of the county-wide boards. Again, there is an exception, with the Soil and Water board using different districts based on area rather than population.
The county is divided into fourteen election precincts which are the basis for the five districts. Only the residents in the districts elect their representatives to the County, School and Hospital boards.
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