Hennepin County Board candidates to replace longtime commissioners

The open districts represent the county's northern and western suburbs.

August 12, 2020 at 5:25AM
From left, Hennepin County Commissioners Jan Callison, Jeff Johnson and Mike Opat, shown in 2011.
From left, Hennepin County Commissioners Jan Callison, Jeff Johnson and Mike Opat, shown in 2011. (Vince Tuss/The Minnesota Star Tribune)

The top vote-getters running for the three open seats on the Hennepin County Board were set Tuesday and now are vying to replace longtime incumbents Mike Opat, Jan Callison and Jeff Johnson.

The open districts represent the county's northern and western suburbs. The candidates moving on to the November election are:

In District 1, the winners were Jeff Lunde, mayor of Brooklyn Park, and De'Vonna Pittman, Hennepin County's disparity reduction coordinator and business owner. She received 44% of the vote, and Lunde received 37%.

In District 6, Hopkins school board member Chris LaTondresse and business owner Dario Anselmo were the top vote-getters. LaTondresse said he is the only candidate in his race with local government experience. Anselmo has run on his 30-year record of community service.

The winners in District 7 were Kevin Anderson, who described himself as a solution architect on his campaign website, and Danny Nadeau, assistant to Commissioner Johnson. Anderson got 42% and Nadeau 30%.

In Ramsey County, one board seat was being contested.

With 10 of 24 precincts reporting results, incumbent Commissioner Mary Jo McGuire had 77% of the vote, followed by challengers Dan McGrath at 12% and Greg Ryan with 11%.

McGuire was first elected to the Ramsey County Board in 2012 to represent District 2, which includes Lauderdale, Little Canada, New Brighton, Roseville and portions of Mounds View and St. Anthony.

In 2016, Ryan, running as a Republican, unsuccessfully challenged U.S. Rep. Betty McCollum for the Fourth Congressional District seat. McGrath served as president of a group that unsuccessfully pushed for a state constitutional amendment to require voter ID.

Staff writer Shannon Prather contributed to this report.

about the writer

about the writer

David Chanen

Reporter

David Chanen is a reporter covering Hennepin County government and Prince's estate dealings. He previously covered crime, courts and spent two sessions at the Legislature.

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