Conlon returns to St. Paul school board

One of the biggest questions heading into the St. Paul School Board race Tuesday night was whether Tom Conlon, the board's lone Republican, would continue to buck the city's DFL dominance and win a fifth term.

With all of the city's precincts reporting, Conlon, 47, became the school board's longest-serving member, something of a conservative anomaly on a board heavily weighted with DFL-endorsees.

While school board races are technically nonpartisan, candidates regularly seek and then advertise party endorsements. Conlon has over the years gained a reputation for collaborating with his more liberal-leaning peers, but nonetheless often is a dissenting vote when the board pushes to increase funding for some program or another.

Conlon was first elected to the school board in 1991. He is a tireless presence at community events all year long.

"I really try to govern as an independent," he said. "I've worked hard to bring in support from all parties."

Other incumbents chasing re-election were Anne Carroll, seeking her third term, and Kazoua Kong-Thao, seeking her second.

Carroll and Kong-Thao were easily the two top vote-getters. A challenger with DFL endorsement, Keith Hardy, 44, ran dead-even with Conlon during the night and was the lone non-incumbent to win a seat. Eight candidates sought four seats.

EAST METRO AREA

Candidates supporting Stillwater's three levies won all four spots in the district's school board election, according to final unofficial results. Scott Papke, the lone incumbent on the ballot, edged anti-levy candidate Jim Kremer for the final spot by less than 200 votes. West Lakeland Township resident Natalie Fedie was the top vote-getter.

The results brought some good news to levy supporters; only one of the district's three levies passed.

David Beck announced last month he was withdrawing from the Stillwater race to make sure he didn't dilute the vote among pro-levy candidates. But with his name still on the ballot, he drew nearly 2,500 votes.

The four incumbents on Forest Lake's school board ballot -- Bill Bresin, Joe Grafft, Dan Kieger and Rob Raphael -- all won re-election. They won handily over four challengers running on an endorsement from the Taxpayers League of Minnesota.

NORTH METRO AREA

Voters in the St. Francis school district re-elected two of three incumbents, less than two weeks after four temporary classrooms adjacent to two elementary schools were shut down because of mold. Sandy Grams and Amy Kelly both reclaimed their seats; two others, Mark Vogel and Joe Haag, were elected, replacing incumbent Jim Jones and Troy Ferguson, who retired.

In St. Anthony-New Brighton, write-in candidate Don Siggelkow won 83 votes and a seat on the school board; incumbents chairman Mike Volna and vice chairwoman Jane Eckert also reclaimed their seats. Siggelkow, a longtime St. Anthony resident, said he launched a write-in campaign among friends when he learned of the opening.

"It's a solid group of people," he said. "They're facing referendums on building improvements, and I wanted to be part of that."

SOUTH METRO

In Prior Lake-Savage, a former employee whose firing made waves this spring was the only non-incumbent elected to the school board. Chris Lind was a campus supervisor at Prior Lake High School when the district fired him for his job performance. But Lind insisted the district trampled his rights by telling him not to mentor students about their faith off-campus.

Lind said his firing had nothing to do with his decision to run.

"I'm not spiteful, I'm not angry," Lind said. "I really feel I have something to give to the school board."

In Belle Plaine, newcomers and levy supporters Matt Bigaouette and Matt Lenz were elected. Lenz, who has two children who attend school in the district, said he's excited to use his accounting background to help the district.

"We're going to have to deal with how we're going to spend the extra money we're going to get" from an approved levy request, he said.

WEST METRO

In the Minnetonka School District, incumbent Bill Wenmark encountered criticism for how he had portrayed his affiliation with the U.S. Naval Academy. Results from 13 of Minnetonka's 21 precincts indicated Wenmark would likely lose his seat. He was in fifth place in the race for four seats.

Incumbent Cal Litsey and challengers Paul Luehr, Lisa Wagner and Karen Walkowski were leading in the race.

In Hopkins School District, after an elementary school closing and a resulting redistricting, voters had a chance to add several fresh faces to the school board.

Yvonne Selcer, the only incumbent to seek re-election, kept her seat. Challengers Irma McIntosh Coleman, Wendy Donovan and Ellen Dustman also won board seats.

On the western end of Lake Minnetonka, Westonka incumbents David Botts, Ann Bremer, Roger Bredeson and John Johns faced four challengers. Returns with two of the district's three precincts showed an extremely tight race for the four seats, as well as a close vote on an operating levy.

Citizens for Common Sense co-founder Tom Notch joined forces with fiscal conservatives Gary Hejna and Ray Salazar in an attempt to bring a "housecleaning" to the current board.

The trio faced criticism from Johns, Bredeson and School Superintendent Kevin Borg, who said they spread misinformation about district finances. A fourth challenger, Kenneth Bencker, also ran for the board.

Staff writers Maria Elena Baca, Ben Goessling, Emily Johns and Patrice Relerford contributed to this report. James Walsh • 651-298-1541

James Walsh • jwalsh@startribune.com