In Anoka County it's a season of political change

One Anoka County Board candidate was asked by Jesse Ventura to be his lieutenant governor running mate. Another is an incumbent state senator who failed to gain her party's endorsement. A third is seeking the seat that her ailing husband recently vacated.

Scott LeDoux's resignation because of illness and board Chairman Dennis Berg's decision not to seek reelection have turned what appeared to be an already interesting board election into a pivotal one. Five of the seven commissioners' seats are up for grabs, with only those held by progressive Dan Erhart and fiscal conservative Rhonda Sivarajah not on the ballot. Incumbents Jim Kordiak, Dick Lang and Robyn West hope to retain their seats.

The candidate filing period began Tuesday and continues through June 1.

The election could prove "fascinating if the candidates focus on the good of the county," Berg said. Or, said Erhart, the election could turn "disruptive if candidates are running with the hope of making it difficult to move agendas that are good for the people in Anoka County, or Blaine, or Coon Rapids."

Familiar face

One candidate already has been given Berg's blessing to run for his seat -- a seat Natalie Steffen knows very well.

Long before turning down Ventura's offer to run on his gubernatorial ticket, Steffen and former county board Chairwoman Margaret Langfeld were shattering a gender barrier. In 1982, they became the first women elected to the Anoka County Board. Steffen later ran the state's Department of Human Services under Gov. Arne Carlson and now serves on the Metropolitan Council.

Among the other early-filing candidates for Berg's District 1 seat are Ramsey City Council Member Matt Look; former Ramsey mayoral candidate Terri Cleveland, and Terry Hendriksen, who was on the Ramsey Planning Commission and is a former Ramsey City Council member.

Look was in the news two years ago when he sued the PACT Charter School, which refused to move Look's son up on a waiting list for the 2008-09 school year. An Anoka County district judge sided with the school and the Minnesota Court of Appeals upheld the ruling. The school eventually accepted Look's son through a lottery, but the family opted not to enroll the boy because of threats Look said he endured during the suit.

Bell rings for LeDoux

Hoping to fill LeDoux's vacated seat is another LeDoux, his wife, Carol. Other candidates who have filed are Becky Fink, a long-time community volunteer and activist -- and the candidate Scott LeDoux defeated two years ago when he was reelected in District 5 -- and Andover City Council Member Julie Trude.

Equally unpredictable is the race for the seat in District 2. Incumbent Dick Lang, 70, has served five terms, but few people, including fellow board members, were certain that he would run again until a few weeks ago. Some of his challengers have been well-known for months.

Erikson was one of three council members who often butted heads with Paul Meunier, the city's mayor. Another is Gary Kirkeide, the incumbent mayor who lost to Meunier in 2006 and then was appointed to the City Council. Kirkeide also has filed for Lang's seat.

Meanwhile, Meunier is running for the state Senate seat held by Debbie Johnson -- who is running against Lang, Erikson and Kirkeide for county commissioner. Johnson, a 10-year veteran of the Legislature, was bypassed by Republicans in favor of Michelle Benson, who received the party's endorsement in February.

West is being challenged by Mike Bourke, a Blaine City Council member who works as an auto parts store manager.

Jim Kordiak, the longtime commissioner from District 4, is seen by many as the safest bet among incumbents seeking reelection.

Tony Palumbo, an assistant Anoka County attorney, officially filed for county attorney. Brad Johnson, an assistant Hennepin County attorney and son of current Anoka County Attorney Robert M.A. Johnson, has announced that he's running for the office.