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The filing period to run for office closed this week and the results are in—West St. Paul’s municipal elections are entirely uncontested while other races face surprising primaries and a state-wide controversy.
West St. Paul
For the first time in at least 50 years, West St. Paul’s City Council and mayoral elections are completely uncontested. Here are the incumbents running again:
- Mayor: Dave Napier
- Council Ward 1: Pat Armon
- Council Ward 2: John Justen
- Council Ward 3: Wendy Berry
All Council members are running for a third four-year term (though Armon’s will be non-consecutive). Napier is running for a fifth two-year term.
It’s the third election in a row that the mayor and Ward 2 Council seat have gone uncontested. It’s the first time since 2010 that the Ward 3 seat has been uncontested.
The closest year to a completely uncontested election was 2006 when only the Ward 2 race between Ed Iago and Nicholas Juarez was contested, and Juarez moved and dropped out of the race before the election, becoming ineligible—though his name still appeared on the ballot. A single contested race also happened in 2002, 1992, and 1990.
But with election data going back to 1977, there’s no history of a completely uncontested municipal election.
Dakota County
- County commissioner: Incumbent Joe Atkins is the sole candidate.
- County attorney: Incumbent Kathryn Keena fill face off against Jeffrey Sheridan who ran in the 2022 primary.
- County sheriff: Incumbent Joe Leko will face Bobby Lambert, a sergeant in the Dakota County Sheriff’s department.
Minnesota Legislative Races
Head-to-head matches in District 53, but surprise primaries and a controversy in District 65:
- House District 53A: DFL incumbent Mary Frances Clardy will face GOP challenger AJ Gubash.
- House District 65B: A DFL primary between the endorsed Sebastian Ellefson and newcomer Elena Mena for the seat formerly held by Maria Isa Perez Vega, who is running for Ramsey County Commissioner.
- Senate District 53: DFL’s Paul Cumings will face the GOP’s Todd Podgorski for the seat formerly held by Matt Klein, who is running for Congress.
- Senate District 65: For the seat being vacated by the retiring Sandy Pappas, there’s a DFL primary between the endorsed Robyn Gully and newcomer Natasha Bennett, with Christopher Rocco running for the GOP. Rocco created a controversy at the GOP convention by calling for a moment of silence for former police officer Derek Chauvin who was convicted of murdering George Floyd.
U.S. House
With incumbent Second Congressional District Rep. Angie Craig running for U.S. Senate, it’s a wide open race with GOP’s Eric Pratt waiting for the results of a six-way DFL primary between the endorsed Matt Little and long-time candidates Matt Klein and Kaela Berg, as well as newcomers Abdi Abdulle, Hugh McTavish, and Christopher Mosel.
More
Primaries, where necessary, will be August 11. The general election is November 3.
The filing period for ISD 197 School Board candidates is July 14-28. There is no primary.
See our 2026 Voter’s Guide for ongoing coverage of this year’s local elections.
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