With the last day of the candidate filing period coming to a close Tuesday, Aug. 16, several more locals decided to seek public office in their school districts, cities or townships.
Angelina Schultz is one of 175 college students nationwide to be named to the Student Voting Honor Roll.
Central Lakes College earned distinction as a Voter Friendly Campus.
On Tuesday, Jan. 3, Bryan Welk was sworn in as the newly elected Cass County Sheriff.
The Top 10 stories of 2022 in the Brainerd lakes area cover a wide range of events, from tragedy to hope and the past and the future.
In November, Trump-backed Lake lost the governor's race to Hobbs but refused to concede and continued making unconfirmed claims about election improprieties on her Twitter feed.
The election, strikes and the abortion debate made headlines in Minnesota this year.
The award recognized Central Lakes College for its efforts in encouraging students to register to vote.
Election officials said a total of 909 voters were processed on election day at the courthouse counter, with the majority of them voting in-person in protest to receiving a mail ballot.
$401 million race was nation’s most expensive
Because the results in the two commissioner districts fell well outside of the margin at which public funds can be spent on a recount — for county offices, it must be less than one-half of 1% — these were considered discretionary and funded by the candidates themselves.
The case has come to the Supreme Court at a time of heightened concern over U.S. election integrity in light of new voting restrictions pursued by Republican state legislatures.
Analysts say those votes likely tilted Democratic, which will require strong Election Day turnout by Walker's Republican supporters. Opinion polls have shown a narrow lead for Warnock.
For the campaign finance reporting violation, the panel imposed a fine of $50. The door hanger disclosure issue resulted in a $100 fine.
The clear message of this election was that those citizens who found a way to vote, in spite of the many efforts to restrict voting, chose democracy and a system based on the rule of law and the basic time-tested processes of American democracy.
Thankfully elections are completed for 2022, without violence or much dissention.
The count is a manual audit of paper ballots in randomly selected precincts for specific offices to determine the accuracy of the voting system prescribed by state law.
While results still need to be certified, Minnesota was just one of three states to top the 60% mark, along with Wisconsin and Maine, according to the U.S. Election Project.
In Republican House leadership elections on Tuesday, McCarthy is expected to overcome a challenge from hard-line conservative Representative Andy Biggs.
The closely fought governor's race between Lake and Democrat Katie Hobbs was one of the most significant in the general election because Arizona is a battleground state and is expected to play a pivotal role in the 2024 U.S. presidential election.
After 16 candidates competed for the five seats on this year's ballot for Brainerd School Board, some brought up the idea of a primary.
A total of 32,813 residents cast votes on or before Tuesday, Nov. 8, according to statistics provided by the Crow Wing County Elections office. Of those, nearly a quarter — 7,872 — voted by absentee or mail ballot, and 1,444 people registered to vote on Election Day.
Elections officials have gone to great pains to make sure the process works the way it’s supposed to.
In Arizona, law enforcement officials remained on high alert for potential protests, with barricades and security fencing erected around the Maricopa County elections department.
How Republicans and Democrats fared compared to two years ago.
In addition to Eichorn, Sen. Mark Johnson, R-East Grand Forks, was elected as Senate Republican leader.
Republicans had secured at least 211 of the 218 House seats they need for a majority, Edison Research projected late on Thursday, while Democrats had won 199.
Voter turnout was down 4% in Minnesota and 6% nationwide in the Nov. 8 election when compared to the 2018 midterm.
For months, Georgians have been inundated with television ads about Walker and Warnock, and political experts say there are likely very few voters who have not made up their minds.
With control of the two legislative chambers and the governor’s office, DFL lawmakers and Gov. Tim Walz will be able to take more decisive action on policy priorities as they will no longer have to make major compromises with Senate Republicans. That could include increasing funding for education, the creation of a paid family leave program, and the legalization of recreational marijuana.
Duluth's Natalie Zeleznikar unseated Mary Murphy, DFL-Hermantown, in House District 3B by margin of 50.01%-49.85%, according to unofficial results.
The Brainerd School Board race saw the entry of two more candidates in the special election to fill the remaining two years of two seats — Jessica Lynn Forsberg and Trevor Mulholland. This makes for a total of 16 candidates for five seats.
Four more people filed for the Pequot Lakes School Board — Erik Bresnahan, Jacob Thomas Cameron, Brian Hankins and Craig Polchow — bringing the total to eight candidates seeking three seats.
The race for mayor in Deerwood became competitive with the entry of Joshua Crain, who faces current city council member John V. Taylor. Several city council races in the region saw more entrants as well, including an unusually high number of candidates in the city of Emily. A sixth candidate — Bryce Batcher — filed for one of two City Council seats, while the mayoral race in Emily features three contenders.
Filings on Aug. 16
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School districts
Brainerd School District No. 181
- Special election for School Board member (elect two) — Jessica Lynn Forsberg, Trevor Mulholland.
Cass Lake-Bena School District No. 115
- School Board member (elect three) — Terri (Muller) Vail (incumbent).
Crosby-Ironton School District No. 182
- Special election for school board member (elect two) — Michael Domin (incumbent).
Pequot Lakes School District No. 186
- School Board member (elect three) — Erik Bresnahan, Jacob Thomas Cameron, Brian Hankins, Craig Polchow.
Verndale School District No. 818
- School Board member (elect three) — Scott Veronen (incumbent).
Walker-Hackensack-Akeley School District No. 113
- School Board member (elect three) — Samantha Bialozynski.
Cities
Backus
- Mayor — Kurt Sawyer (incumbent).
Baxter
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- Council member (elect two) — Amy Bogart.
Breezy Point
- Council member (elect two) — Gary A. Bakken (incumbent).
Buckman
- Mayor — Greg Gangl (incumbent).
- Council member (elect two) — George Dehler (incumbent), Preston Loidolt (incumbent).
- City treasurer — Bobbi Jo Brisk (incumbent).
Crosby
- Council member (elect two) — Christopher Austin, Vern Lewis, Jennifer Wodarz.
Cuyuna
- Council member (elect two) — Sarah Stangl.
Deerwood
- Mayor — Joshua Crain.
Emily
- Council member (elect two) — Bryce Butcher (incumbent).
Fifty Lakes
- Mayor — Steve Dahlke (incumbent).
- Council member (elect two) — Mark Bradley (incumbent).
Garrison
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- City clerk-treasurer — Aaron P. Eckhout (incumbent).
Genola
- Council member — Mike Welle (incumbent).
Hackensack
- Council member (elect two) — Bruce Reeve, Jim Schneider (incumbent).
- Special election for council member — John Chuba.
Ironton
- Council member (elect two) — Dean French, Rose Stromberg (incumbent).
Jenkins
- Mayor — Charles Hoffman.
- Council member (elect two) — Bill Ellis, Jerimey Flategraff (incumbent), Andrew J. Rudlang (incumbent).
Little Falls
- Council member at large — David Glaze.
- Council member Ward 3 — David C. Meyer.
Nisswa
- Special election for council member — Joseph Hall.
Osakis
- Council member (elect two) — Randy Anderson (incumbent).
Pequot Lakes
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- Council member (elect two) — Cheri Seils (incumbent).
Pillager
- Council member (elect two) — H. Robert Freelove.
Pine River
- Council member (elect two) — Anthony DeSanto (incumbent).
Sebeka
- Council member (elect two) — Josh Connor (incumbent).
Sobieski
- Council member — Jerome Ringwelski (incumbent).
- City treasurer — Janice Czech (incumbent).
Verndale
- Council member (elect two) — Ardith Carr (incumbent), Brad Cottrell.
Wadena
- Mayor — George M. Deiss (incumbent).
- Council member (elect two) — Mark Lunde (incumbent).
Townships
Elmdale Township
- Township supervisor, seat B — Bill Koopmeiners (incumbent).
- Township clerk — Kim Harren.
Irondale Township
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- Township supervisor, seat 2 — Tim Leonard (incumbent).
Meadow Brook Township
- Special election for township supervisor, seat 1 — Billy Haehnel (incumbent).
- Township supervisor, seat 3 — Cory Detloff.
McKinley Township
- Township supervisor, seat 1 — William L. Brown (incumbent).
- Township supervisor, seat 3 — James G. Latterner (incumbent).
- Township treasurer — Lee Burns (incumbent).
Moose Lake Township
- Township supervisor, seat 1 — Mary Keppers.
- Township clerk — Karen Roubal (incumbent).
Oak Lawn Township
- Township supervisor, seat 1 — Alan Mellgren.
Pelican Township
- Township clerk — Samantha Gonczy.
Pierz Township
- Township supervisor, seat B — Dean Rocheleau (incumbent).
Shingobee Township
- Township supervisor, seat 5 — Ronald Geiser (incumbent).
Trelipe Township
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- Town supervisor, seat 2 — Wes Slagle.
Woodrow Township
- Township supervisor, seat 2 — Gordon Reher (incumbent).
- Township treasurer — Tim Mueller (incumbent).
Hospital district
Cuyuna Range Hospital District
- Hospital district board member, Ironton — Clark Hamdorf (incumbent).
News reporting
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources.
The Trust Project
