Commission seats in districts 2, 4 contested

By Editor | July 3, 2024 |

By Anna Jauhola
There are two contested commissioner races for voters coming up for the Tuesday, Aug. 13 primary election.
District 4 has four people running for a seat held by Leon Olson for the last 20 years. District four covers St. Joseph, McKinley, Caribou, Peatland, Cannon, Poppleton, Percy, Klondike, Norway and Deerwood townships, as well as the cities of Lake Bronson and Halma.
According to 2020 census data, District 4 has 767 residents.
Incumbent Leon Olson has filed for reelection.
Others who have filed are Allison Frislie, of Caribou Township; Derry Jones, of Percy Township; and Corrine (Missy) Karboviak, of Cannon Township.
District 2 has three people running for a seat held by Theresia Gillie for the last 10 years. District two covers Thompson, Hazelton, South Red River, Skane, Tegner, Jupiter, Teien, Svea, Davis and Spring Brook township, as well as the cities of Kennedy and Donaldson.
According to 2020 Census data, District 2 has 833 residents.
Incumbent Theresia Gillie has filed for reelection.
Others who have filed are Paul Dziengel, of Davis Township; and Waylin Olson, of the city of Kennedy.
One person has filed for Commissioner for District 1, which covers the city of Karlstad, and Pelan and Arveson townships. Current Commissioner Nathan Kraulik did not file for reelection.
Brad Johnson, of Karlstad, has filed for the District 1 seat.
Also on the primary ballot for August will be three Kittson Soil and Water supervisor seats. Incumbents C.J. Peterson, Carey Mortenson and Joe Wilebski have all filed for reelection.
The top two vote-getters in each race will move on to the Nov. 5 General Election ballot.
State and Federal offices
Voters will also notice on their primary ballots that they can vote for state and federal candidates.
For Minnesota Representative District 1A, incumbent Rep. John Burkel, R-Badger, has filed for reelection, and is challenged by Democrat (DFL) James Sceville, of Thief River Falls.
For U.S. Representative District 7, Rep. Michelle Fischbach has filed for reelection. Fischbach was first elected to this seat in 2020. She is challenged by Republican Steve Boyd, of Alexandria, Minn., and Democrat (DFL) A.J. Peters, of Browerville, Minn.
Sen. Amy Klobuchar is up for reelection this year, and she has filed for her long-standing position. She has served Minnesota since January 2007. She is challenged by Democrats – Steve Carlson, Ahmad R. Hassan, George H. Kalberer and Ole Savior; and by Republicans – John Berman, Loner Blue, Joe Fraser, Alycia R. Gruenhagen, Patrick D. Munro, Raymond D. Petersen, Christopher Seymore Sr., and Royce White.
To find out more about several of the candidates, visit https://candidates. sos.mn.gov/.
The majority of voters in Kittson County vote by ballot and should look for their ballot in the mail. Those who vote by mail can also cast their ballots in person at the courthouse in Hallock.
Voters who live in Karlstad city limits vote in person at the Karlstad Community Center. Voters who live in Hallock city limits vote in person at Hallock City Hall.