Candidates start filing for spots on Rochester, Olmsted County ballots

Randy Petersen, Post-Bulletin, Rochester, Minn.
·1 min read

May 21—ROCHESTER — The two-week filing period for local elections where primary elections are possible began Tuesday.

On the first day, a combined seven candidates filed for three of the four Rochester City Council seats on the Nov. 5 general election ballot. No candidates in the southwest Ward 2 filed on the first day.

Two of three Rochester School Board incumbents filed in the district-wide races that require candidates to file for a specific seat.

With five Olmsted County commissioner seats set for the ballot, the Minnesota Secretary of State officially recorded filings by four incumbents and one challenger on Tuesday. A second challenger in District 3 filed by petition, which will require the signatures to be verified before being posted as an official candidate, according to Olmsted County Elections Manager Luke Turner.

The candidates that filed on Tuesday are:

* Shaun Palmer

* Randy Schubring

* No candidates filed

* Kelly Rae Kirkpatrick (incumbent)

* Andy Friederichs

* Cory Sorgenfrie

* Dan Doering

* Mark Schleusner

* Don Barlow (incumbent)

* Karen MacLaughlin (incumbent)

* No candidate filed

* Laurel Podulke-Smith (incumbent)

* Gregg Wright (incumbent)

* April Sutor

* Michelle Rossman (incumbent)

* No candidate filed

* Mark Thein (incumbent)

The filing period for all races runs through June 4. At that point, any race with more than two candidates will be set for an Aug. 13 primary election to reduce the number of candidates to two for the Nov. 5 general election ballot.