The filing period opens for school and hospital board positions. Grand Marais city council positions and the special election period for a county commissioner seat begin too.
The next candidate-filing period for the fall elections starts Tuesday, July 28 and runs through August 11. This round of filings is for two seats on the District 166 school board, two seats on the hospital board, and two council seats plus the mayor for the city of Grand Marais. It is also the time when candidates file for a soon-to-be vacant seat on the county board. The filing period for two county board seats and three Soil and Water board seats ended June 2. Most of the elections 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 2 (Grand Marais East and Croftville precincts) seat now held by Justin Mueller and the District 4 (Maple Hill and Gunflint trail precincts) now held by Kay Olson. Mueller was elected to the board in 2012 and is completing his second term. Olson has served three terms on the hospital board starting in 2008. The hospital board has not had a contested election since 2012. In 2018 new directors Steven Nielsen and Randy Wiitala were elected unopposed to open seats.
Cook County School District 166
The five-member school board is elected using the same district lines. The District 2 seat now held by Carrie Jensen and the District 4 seat now held by Sissy Lunde will also be on the November ballot. Jensen is completing her first term on the board and Lunde her second term. The school board has not had a contested election since 2008 and in 2014 had a position on the ballot with no candidates and a write-in election. In 2018, the board gained two new members, Rena Rogers and Dan Shirley, both of whom ran unopposed.
Grand Marais City Council
The city elects a mayor for a two-year term and two of the four council members for four-year terms. The council members are elected at large. Up for election in 2020 are: Mayor Jay Arrowsmith DeCoux and the council seats held by Tim Kennedy and Craig Schulte. There is a story for each of the three incumbents.
Arrowsmith DeCoux was first elected in 2014 in a contested election. In 2016 he was re-elected as a write-in in a contest with no candidates on the ballot. He was elected again in 2018 in a contested election.
The two council seats have very different histories. Tracy Benson was elected to the council in 2016 and later resigned, which led to a special election in 2018 to fill the remaining two years of the term. Carl “Pete’ Gresczyk was elected to the seat and declined taking the office. The council then appointed Craig Schulte to the council.
Contrasting that, Tim Kennedy has been elected to the city council in 2004, 2008, 2012 and 2016. Kennedy has announced that he will be retiring when his term ends in January.
Cook County Commissioner District 1
Robert “Bobby” Deschampe has announced that he will resign from the county board on August 21 due to his recent election as the chair of the Grand Portage Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Tribal Council. While the election to fill the vacant seat will not be held until February 9, 2021, the filing period for the election is also from July 28 to August 11. Look for a separate story on the process of filling vacant county board seats and the timing for this election.
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 countywide 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 thirteen 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.
The five districts with their precincts are:
District 1: Grand Portage, Hovland and Covill;
District 2: Grand Marais East and Croftville;
District 3: Grand Marais West and Cascade;
District 4: Gunflint Trail and Maple Hill; and
District 5: Lutsen, Tofte and Schroeder plus Pike Lake.
Candidates for the seats must file an Affidavit of Candidacy with the County Auditor and pay a minimal filing fee. The form can be found on the web sites of Cook County and the Minnesota Secretary of State.
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