Duluth 2011 Election Candidate Filings

Paul Lundgren Jul 05, 2011 27 Comments

Duluth citizens desiring to be a candidate for elected office must file before July 19. Candidates for city offices file with the city clerk; candidates for school board file at Historic Old Central High School in room 215.

(The list below is a final list of who filed. Updates were made to this post as filing was happening, so some comments to this post predate the completion of the list.)

Mayor of Duluth
Don Ness (incumbent)

First District Duluth City Councilor
Todd Fedora (incumbent)
Jennifer Julsrud

Third District Duluth City Councilor
Sharla Gardner (incumbent)

Fourth District Duluth City Councilor
Jacqueline Halberg (incumbent)
Garry Krause
Ryan Miles
Wallace Newquist
Travis Silvers

Fifth District Duluth City Councilor
Jay Fosle (incumbent)

At-large Duluth City Councilors (two positions)
Gareth W. Bates
Eric Edwardson
Linda Krug
Emily Larson
Tim Riley
Chad Smith

At-large Duluth School Board Member
Doug Frisk
Michael Miernicki
Ryan Stauber

Second District Duluth School Board Member
Loren Martell
Judy Seliga Punyko (incumbent)

Third District Duluth School Board Member
Jon Donahue
Bill Westholm

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27 Comments

carla

about 13 years ago 

There is a meet and greet for Jennifer Julsrud on July 7, 5 p.m., at Zeitgeist hosted by YPS.

Danny G

about 13 years ago 

Is the Zeitgeist in district 1?

Arty

about 13 years ago 

The Zeitgeist is everywhere, Danny G. Next question.

Danny G

about 13 years ago 

Alrighty.  What is the YPS?

Paul Lundgren

about 13 years ago 

The First Council District is made up of Duluth's far eastern neighborhoods. It does not include the downtown area where the Zeitgeist Arts Building is located, which is the Third Council District.

todobrillante

about 13 years ago 

Some websites:

http://www.nessformayor.com/
http://www.reelectfedora.com/
http://www.jenniferforduluth.com/
http://www.larsonforduluth.com/

I couldn't find other candidates so please add to the list if you can find them. They are also, to varying degrees, active on The Facebook.

Paul Lundgren

about 13 years ago 

Filing ends tomorrow. Mayor Don Ness is still unopposed and there are no candidates for the Fourth District City Council race.

Tom

about 13 years ago 

I have a feeling we'll see a whole slew of filings tomorrow.  I don't understand why, but candidates like to wait until the last possible minute to file.  I would expect at least a couple more filings for mayor.  And I can't really imagine any of the city councilors or school board members running unopposed.

Tom

about 13 years ago 

Considering the survey results just released by the National Research Center, showing that Mayor Ness has a 86% approval rating, it's going to be interesting to see how many people, and who, actually decide to run against him.  I'd have to say that at this point, any mayoral candidate would be there more for show than anything.  I'm sure we'll see a few conservatives running just to try to get their message out.

Paul Lundgren

about 13 years ago 

Jacqueline Halberg, Wallace Newquist and Ryan Miles have filed today for the Fourth District City Council race.

Paul Lundgren

about 13 years ago 

The Fourth District City Council race suddenly got popular. Travis Silvers has also filed today.

Still no opponent for Mayor Ness with just a few hours to go.

Paul Lundgren

about 13 years ago 

Also, Jon Donahue has filed for the Third District School Board race today.

edgeways

about 13 years ago 

Another, what, two hours and change for the filing deadline yes? 
I'm pretty happy with Ness, and the 86% must be a pretty daunting figure to anyone considering running against him. There is a part of me that thinks someone should run nonetheless. I am slightly uncomfortable with such an important position being unchallenged, even if the incumbent is someone I would vote for.

Claire

about 13 years ago 

I think it's funny about all those naysayers who are so down on Duluth complaining about Don Ness as mayor, and when push comes to shove, no one from that gang steps forward to run against him.

Paul Lundgren

about 13 years ago 

There's still time, Claire. It ain't 4:30 yet. Someone must be planning to emerge.

Claire

about 13 years ago 

You are right, Paul, I am sure there's going to be more filings in the next 90 minutes. Well, whoever would run against Don Ness had better be a pretty amazing person, because Don's a pretty formidable opponent. Not even Mr. Nice could unseat him, I think.

Paul Lundgren

about 13 years ago 

Two more school board candidates have filed. Doug Frisk is running for the at-large seat and Loren Martell is running to represent the second district.

Mayor Ness and Councilors Fosle and Gardner remain unopposed as we head into the final minutes for filing.

edgeways

about 13 years ago 

So (assuming no one file sin the last 3 mins) how often is the Mayor's race unopposed?

(I've only been around for ~17 years.)

Paul Lundgren

about 13 years ago 

I was just thinking that myself. I'd be willing to bet this would be a first.

Paul Lundgren

about 13 years ago 

A few last-minute surprises:

* Garry Krause is back at it again, running for Fourth District City Council.

* Eric "Heiko" Edwardson is running for At-large City Council. (Really? Heiko? Apparently so.)

* Tim Riley also jumped into the at-large council race at the end of the day.

adam

about 13 years ago 

Can we get an update as far as who's on record for and against skateboards in Anal Park?

Paul Lundgren

about 13 years ago 

Of the above, all we know for sure is Garry Krause is anti-skateboard. (Or do we refer to it as pro-SGTFO?)

Joel

about 13 years ago 

Krause is no surprise.  Word that he intended to run has been out on the street for weeks.  Biggest surprise I see is that Gordon Grant isn't running at large, as had been rumored.  Seems like the right-wing totally punted on the at-large seats.

Tom

about 13 years ago 

I stand corrected on my earlier comments.

You always here about small towns having candidates for mayor running unopposed.  But in a city of 86,000 people, nobody even bothers to run against the mayor?  I never thought I'd see that.  Not that the challenger would have any chance of winning, but the fact that nobody even files to run against him has to be a testament to his popularity.

brian

about 13 years ago 

 

I'm taking credit for at least 2% of Mayor Ness' 86% popularity. Nobody's going to run against a cartoon superhero.

I considered making Jeno Paulucci the hero. Where would Don's numbers be then?

OCE

about 13 years ago 

We would like to invite all of the At-Large City Council Candidates to a forum at UMD but, as stated above, not everyone has public contact info on the web. Has anyone seen anything for:

-Eric Edwardson
-Tim Riley
-Gareth Bates

Chad Smith has a website to be added to the list:
http://chadsmithduluth.com/

Thanks PDDverse!

Paul Lundgren

about 13 years ago 

Eric Edwardson -- 310-9968
Gareth Bates -- 724-4769

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