Among west-metro races, Hennepin County Board's open seats attract interest

Open seats on the Hennepin County Board were among the public offices in the west metro area attracting multiple candidates for this fall's elections.

The deadline to file for some elections was on Tuesday.

In District 6, Minnetonka Mayor Jan Callison and John Cooney of Wayzata, a longtime aide to U.S. Rep. Jim Ramstad, have filed to run for the seat being vacated by County Commissioner Linda Koblick after six years.

Five candidates are competing for the District 7 seat, where after 14 years Penny Steele has decided not to seek reelection. They are former state Rep. Jeff Johnson of Plymouth, Steve Gill and Joe Lachner of Maple Grove, former Champlin City Council Member Joan Molenaar and Ken Wilson of Plymouth.

In District 5, the board's chairman, Randy Johnson, is seeking reelection to enter his 30th year as a commissioner. He is being challenged by David Nyberg and Carlan Lesch, both of Bloomington.

Candidates for most west-metro cities with municipal elections this fall -- among them, Wayzata, Edina, Plymouth, Chaska, Chanhassen, Maple Grove, Orono and Greenfield -- must file between Aug. 26 and Sept. 9. But some area cities did require candidates to file by Tuesday.

In Richfield, two vacant City Council seats have attracted a total of 11 candidates, while in Robbinsdale, only the incumbents are running for two council seats and for mayor.

In Rogers, two current council members -- Jason Grimm and Scott Adams -- have filed for the mayor's job, now held by Paul Przybilla, who is not seeking reelection. Meanwhile, three people will compete for the at-large seats the two council members are vacating.

The following are candidates for west-metro offices who had filed for election as of Tuesday afternoon. Incumbents are marked with an asterisk(*).

ROGERS CITY COUNCIL

At large (two seats): Rob Bell, Tammy Sternal, Jay Bunting. Mayor -- Jason Grimm, Scott Adams.

ROBBINSDALE CITY COUNCIL

Ward 1: Bill Blonigan*. Ward 2: Dan Rogan*. Mayor -- Mike Holtz*.

RICHFIELD CITY COUNCIL

Ward 1: Kevin Davy, Christopher Drake, Pat Elliott, Gordon Hanson. Ward 2: Ken Severson, Fred Wroge*. Ward 3: Tom Fitzhenry, Christian Hanson, Jeff Karr, Heidi Palms, Josh Root, Michael Smith, Joe Theisen.