It was 1982 and Margaret Langfeld, once the only woman on the Blaine City Council, was knocking on doors, campaigning for a seat on the all-male Anoka County Board. She was surprised when one voter resisted her literature.

"Well, you're the only woman running," the man told Langfeld. "How could I forget you?"

This fall, women running for the Anoka County Board are vying to break another gender barrier. Five of the seven commissioners' seats could go to women -- and that would be a first in Minnesota, where only 11 percent of county commissioners are women, according to the St. Paul-based Women Candidate Development Coalition.

In a state that has elected women to the U.S. Senate and House, as lieutenant governor, and to more than one-third of its seats at the state Legislature, why are so few women elected to county boards?

"Women would be great at serving as county commissioners, but many may be reticent to pick up that challenge because most people don't know what county boards do," said Gail Dorfman, one of two women serving on the seven-member Hennepin County Board.

A late 19th-century image of a county commissioner doing little more than discussing road construction and drainage ditches kept women away from county boards for decades, particularly in rural Minnesota.

"It was perceived as a man's job, plain and simple," said Shirley Nelson, executive director of the nonpartisan Women Candidate Development Coalition.

Female majorities are rare

County boards are still dominated by men -- and not just outstate. Only Ramsey County, where four of seven commissioners are women, and Itasca County in north-central Minnesota, where three of five board members are women, have a female majority.

Anoka County could become the first Twin Cities suburban county with a majority of women on its board -- an irony for an oft-progressive board mocked by conservatives as the "Good Ol' Boys."

Anoka County is guaranteed at least two female commissioners after the election -- incumbent Rhonda Sivarajah, who has two years remaining on her current term, and the winner of a special election to fill the seat vacated by Scott LeDoux because of illness. That seat will go either to his wife, Carol LeDoux, or to Becky Fink, survivors of last month's primary.

Other women running for district seats on the board have impressive résumés.

Natalie Steffen, running against Ramsey City Council Member Matt Look, broke the County Board gender barrier along with Langfeld when both were elected in 1982. Steffen went on to run the Minnesota Department of Human Services under Gov. Arne Carlson and now serves on the Metropolitan Council.

Debbie Johnson is a current state senator, running for the board against former state Rep. Andy Westerberg, and Robyn West is an incumbent running against Blaine City Council Member Mike Bourke.

But Anoka County, with so many serious female contenders for commissioner, appears to be an exception this election season.

"Women are underrepresented at every level of office," said Kathryn Pearson, a political science professor at the University of Minnesota. "They win at the same rate as men, but not enough women run for office."

Under the radar

Jan Callison served as mayor of Minnetonka before being elected to the Hennepin County Board two years ago. While attending an event in Minnetonka, a constituent asked why she would ever want to leave her job as mayor to become a commissioner.

"I think most people don't know what county boards do and they underestimate the importance," Callison said.

Dorfman -- also a former mayor, of St. Louis Park -- says that with the exception of stadium or light-rail issues, or smoking bans, most of the work done by the Hennepin County Board falls under the radar.

Callison said she was pleasantly surprised by the diversity of tasks facing county commissioners. But she understands why many women, particularly in rural Minnesota where some male commissioners are considered institutions, don't run for county board.

"It's daunting for a woman to have to knock off an incumbent," she said.

Langfeld, the only woman ever elected to chair the Anoka County Board, retired four years ago. She said she became aware of how few women were commissioners when she served as president of the Association of Minnesota Counties.

"We never made any ground," said Langfeld. "Some women retired out of frustration. That, sadly, has not changed."

Paul Levy • 612-673-4419