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Waiting is over for newly elected Park Board
With ranked-choice voting, one of Minneapolis' most competitive races wasn't decided for 17 days.
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What was probably the most drawn-out election count in Minneapolis election history finally rounded out the makeup of next year's Park Board on Friday.
Bob Fine, Annie Young and John Erwin won the three at-large seats. Only Fine hit the election threshold of 25 percent of votes under the city's ranked-choice voting system. Young hit nearly 23 percent and Erwin 21 percent before alternate voter choices from dropped candidates were exhausted.
The race was one of the most competitive in the city because it featured four incumbents and Erwin, a former commissioner.
Among those losing were Mary Merrill Anderson, who served a term on the board after stepping down as superintendent, and Tom Nordyke, the current board chair.
Nordyke said the makeup of the incoming board means it will likely seek a new superintendent to replace Jon Gurban, whose term expires June 30.
One factor affecting the race was the failure of the state DFL organization to get its sample ballot of endorsees, which is influential in Minneapolis, to voters before the election. A mailing snafu caused that, which probably cost party endorsees Erwin, Merrill Anderson and Nordyke votes.
"I think it probably made a pretty big difference," Nordyke said.
Fine's status at the head of the pack continues a remarkable string of victories for the lawyer and longtime coach despite not winning the DFL endorsement he has sought several times. He ran citywide after failing to win endorsement against Brad Bourn, who went on to win Fine's current southwest Minneapolis district seat.
Neighborhood employee Young, who had the backing of the Green Party, will start her sixth term. Erwin, a horticulture professor, will be sworn in for his second term after sitting out a term for family reasons.
They'll join incumbents Scott Vreeland, Jon Olson and Carol Kummer and newcomers Liz Wielinski, Anita Tabb and Bourn.
The 17-day wait for election results caused anxiety.
"It's hard," said Merrill Anderson. "Everyone asks me every day, and you don't have any answer. It really puts you in limbo. How do you plan for the future -- the future being whether you're on the board?"
Erwin said, "I think it's stressful for everyone. You build up to election night and you don't know the answer for weeks. There's no easy way to second-guess the outcome until it happens."
Fine said he was confident but still had anxiety. "I can tell you that my daughter, who lives in Chicago, has been calling all the time, and she wants to know right away, so she's nervous," he said.
Steve Brandt • 612-673-4438
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