Election Coverage 2011
ELECTION DAY IN ST. PAUL!!! HEAR IT BELOW!
It tested – successfully thus far – the new Ranked Choice Voting system for electing the City Council, and one race will go to a second choice count – Ward 2 – where incumbent Dave Thune was being challenged by two active campaigners – Green Party-endorsed Jim Ivey and artist and picture framing independent Bill Hosko. Cynthia Schanno and Sharon Anderson will be dropped from contention following their low vote totals.
Other highlights: Two first-round victories in multi-candidate races: Ward 1 incumbent Melvin Carter III won more decisively than some thought he might – with 62% of the vote over closest challenger Johnny Howard. In Ward 3, DFL-endorsed Chris Tolbert eked out a 51% majority to defeat his closest rival, independent John Mannillo.
In a very tight two-way race, challenger Amy Brendmoen barely defeated incumbent two-term Ward 5 councilmember Lee Helgen.
Other races were slam-dunks for incumbents: Ward 4 incumbent Russ Stark marched through with 77% of the vote over CurtisStock; Ward 6 incumbent Dan Bostrom was chllenged more closely by Green Party-endorsed Bee Kevin Xiong and Ward 7’s Kathy Lantry ran unopposed.
Of the ten candidates in the School Board race, all four DFL-endorsed contenders walked into office, including incumbents Anne Carroll and Keith Hardy and newcomers Louise Seeba and Mary Doran.
TTT’s Michelle Alimoradi and Andy Driscoll co-anchored Tuesday evening’s coverage, which featured:
KAZOUA KONG-THAO – Retiring School Board Member
ANNE WHITE – Union Park Community Council Board Member and its Land Use Chair, as well as Past President of the Central Corridor group, District Councils Collaborative of St. Paul & Minneapolis.
YUSEF MGENI – Ward One activist; retired St. Paul Schools Director of Education Equity; former Executive Director of The Urban Coalition