Filing for the 2022 elections closed yesterday (May 31) and several candidates for elected office will be moving on the general election unopposed.
In two of the bigger races on the 2022 ballot, incumbent Sheriff Sean Deringer and County Attorney Brian Lutes were the only candidates to file for their respective offices so both will run unopposed for re-election to a second term.
The same is true for the two open Soil and Water Supervisor positions. On the final day of filing, Michael Zieska threw his hat in the ring to represent District 1 and William Daluge filed to represent District 3. Both will run unopposed.
The same wasn’t true for county commissioner races. With Commissioners Mark Daleiden and Christine Husom announcing they wouldn’t seek a fourth term in office and redistricting requiring Commissioner Mary Wetter to seek reelection, three commissioner spots are up for grabs and two of the races will be forced to square off in a primary election Tuesday, Aug. 9.
Under state statute, if more than two candidates file for the same the position, they must meet in the primary election to whittle the field down to two and more than two candidates filed in both Districts 1 and 3.
In District 1 (Husom’s district), three candidates will vie to move on to the Nov. 8 general election – Tina Diedrick, Michael Holmstrom and Terry Strege. Meanwhile in the newly configured District 3 (Daleiden’s district), former Commissioner Mike Potter, Jonathan Heinrichs and Jeanne Holland will meet Aug. 9 with the top two vote-getters moving on to the November election.
Potter lost the 2020 election to Wetter when both were in District 4. Thanks to redistricting, Daleiden would have moved to District 4 and Potter moved to District 3 as part of the flipping of Albertville into District 3 and all of St. Michael being moved into District 4 when the county board approved a redistricting plan.
Wetter will face a challenge for her District 4 seat in November as she is challenged by Nadine Schoen. Because there were only two candidate filings in District 4, Schoen and Wetter will bypass the primary election and move directly to the Nov. 8 election.