St. Paul Mayor Coleman is top vote-getter in primary

St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman easily outdistanced three challengers in the city's mayoral primary Tuesday, garnering 68 percent of the vote. Coleman, a Democrat, will face Eva Ng in the Nov. 3 general election. Ng, a business executive and political newcomer endorsed by the city's Republican Party, took 26 percent of the vote.

Sharon Anderson, who finished with 4 percent, and Bill Dahn, 2 percent, also were on the ballot.

With about 11,500 votes cast, turnout was less than half what it was four years ago when Coleman trounced then-incumbent Randy Kelly, and some 25,172 were cast.

St. Paul school board

The three incumbents vying for reelection to four-year terms led four others in a closer race. Elona Street-Stewart was the top vote-getter, garnering 21 percent, followed by John Brodrick, 19 percent, and Tom Goldstein, 17 percent. The closest nonincumbent was Jean O'Connell, 16 percent, followed by Chris Conner with 11 percent, John Krenik with 10 percent and Richard Easton with 7 percent. All but Easton will square off in November again for the three seats.

In a special election to fill the remaining two years of a school board seat vacated earlier this year by Tom Conlon, Vallay Varro finished well ahead of three other competitors with 45 percent of the votes. Pat Igo garnered 27 percent, Lucky Rosenbloom 16 percent and Quyen Nguyen 12 percent. Varro will face Igo in the general election.

Maplewood

City Council Member Will Rossbach, who led the mayor's race, and incumbent Diana Longrie, each won a spot on the November ballot. The two topped five other challengers, including Bob Cardinal, a former mayor, and former City Council member Marv Koppen. Rossbach is in the middle of his four-year term on the City Council. If he's elected mayor, the council will appoint an interim member until a special election.

In the race for council, incumbent Kathy Juenemann led the field of 11 candidates for one of four spots on the November ballot. James Llanas, Dave Hafner and Rebecca Cave were the other top vote-getters. Cave served on the council for two years after winning a special election in 2006, but lost the seat in the regular 2007 election. In Tuesday's primary, she edged out DelRay (Rocky) Rokke by 43 votes for the fourth ballot spot.

A 40-vote margin, which would equal one-half of 1 percent between the fourth and fifth candidate, would have triggered an automatic recount. Rokke can ask for a recount but would have to pay for it.

White Bear Lake

In the race for City Council, Kevin Edberg and incumbent Pam Johnson move on to the November ballot. In the race for mayor, Jo Emerson and Renee Tessier will face off in November. Mayor Paul Auger isn't seeking reelection.

Incumbent Karen Nordstrom outdistanced three challengers for the at-large City Council seat, winning 63 percent. She will face John Kjenstad, 19 percent, in the general elections. Ryan Gopaul, 12 percent, and Tom Tomlinson, 6 percent, rounded out the field.

St. Louis Park

Julia Ross garnered 55 percent of the votes in the only City Council race holding a primary. She will face Bill Theobald, 38 percent, in the general election for the Fourth Ward seat. Thomas Peterson, 7 percent, was the final candidate.