Anoka Mayor Bjorn Skogquist's candidacy for county commissioner has rekindled an already white-hot political rivalry between two incumbent commissioners -- Dan Erhart and Rhonda Sivarajah, who encouraged Skogquist to run for Erhart's seat. Skogquist, 30, a four-term mayor, told the Star Tribune last week that "Rhonda approached me" about the prospect of running for County Board. When asked if she suggested that Skogquist run for county commissioner, Sivarajah confirmed that she "did encourage him." Then she accused Erhart of "crawling around my district the last campaign, trying to find somebody to run against me."

"I have never talked to people about running against fellow board members," said Sivarajah, who is in her second term and who, like Erhart, is running for reelection this fall. "But, you know, if [Erhart] thinks crawling around my district last campaign was something OK to do ..."

Tension between Sivarajah and Erhart, who are seated next to each other at County Board meetings, has been obvious for years. Long before the campaign to relocate the Minnesota Vikings to Anoka County was aborted nearly two years ago, Sivarajah cast the one dissenting vote against building a Vikings stadium in Blaine, much to Erhart's consternation. At a meeting last December, when Sivarajah questioned plans for a proposed passenger rail line from Minneapolis to Duluth, Erhart bristled, failing to mask his frustration.

"Maybe years ago that bully approach was acceptable," Sivarajah said of Erhart last week. "But a lot of bridges have been burned as a result."

Erhart, a county commissioner since 1982 and a former chairman of the County Board, said he was not concerned about possible encouragement Sivarajah may have given Skogquist or any other candidate.

"It's nothing I don't know about," he said.

He then said, "I have not had any conversations with anyone running against her. I'm very busy trying to get good things done for Anoka County."

Erhart and Skogquist are joined on the ballot for the District 7 commissioner's seat by longtime Coon Rapids resident Eugene Rogers. In District 6, Sivarajah faces three-time challenger Kevin Ryan and Patrick Davern, who works in administration and technology management with the University of Minnesota's Anesthesiology Department residency program. In another County Board race, in District 5, incumbent Scott LeDoux is being challenged by Becky Fink and Daniel A. Nelson.

A visible candidate

Of the challengers new to the County Board race, Skogquist will likely attract the most attention. He was a 22-year-old wearing a T-shirt, shorts and sandals the day he first filed for the mayor's office. He has won reelection handily in recent races and says he "really likes being mayor."

But while winning over voters -- and young voters, in particular -- Skogquist couldn't always win over the Anoka City Council.

"I feel many times they blocked things on purpose," he said. "It's hard to get excited about running your head into a brick wall again and again."

He said he had been asked to run for Erhart's seat four years ago, although not necessarily by Sivarajah.

"The way she feels [about Erhart], it's no secret," Skogquist said.

Skogquist said another county commissioner, five-term incumbent Dick Lang, has also encouraged him. But any political career discussions with Lang were not specific and did not take place face to face, Skogquist said.

"Lang has never said, 'You're going to run, aren't you?'" Skogquist said.

"I don't know if I encouraged him or not," said Lang, who plans to retire from office after his term is up in two years.

The three County Board races are bound for primaries in September. The two candidates who emerge with the most votes in each race will face off in the general election in November.

Paul Levy • 612-673-4419