Election season has officially begun. St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman — who won re-election in 2009 with 69 percent of the vote — filed to run for a third term in office on Tuesday morning, setting him in motion to be the first mayor to serve more than two terms since George Latimer, who held the mayor’s seat from 1976 to 1990.
Coleman wasn’t alone at 90 West Plato Boulevard, the Ramsey County government building, which is hosting elections filings from July 30 through August 13.
The mayor was joined by St. Paul School Board Chair Jean O’Connell, School Board member John Brodrick and School Board candidate Chue Vue. The three DFL-endorsed candidates will appear along with the mayor on the November 5 ballot. The mayor will be chosen by ranked-choice, and neither race involves a primary.
Ranked-choice ballots allow voters to choose more than one candidate in order of preference, so it’s possible to vote for more than one candidate for mayor or city council.
Perennial candidate Sharon Anderson — who claims to live on the 1000 block of Summit Avenue — has also filed to run for mayor, though many have questioned over the years the veracity of that claim, as well as the comprehensibility of her many massive email missives. Ramsey County Property Records list a home sale for $735,000 in 2006, and two names on the tax statement, neither of which are Sharon Anderson. (Cue suspenseful music…)
On Monday, challenger Tim Holden held his own “Holden for Mayor” campaign event at the Turf Club at Snelling and University avenues, not far from the Love Doctor, an adult novelties shop that is also one of his most recognizable tenants. Holden has been a vocal critic of the Coleman administration, and even used a bullhorn to talk over the mayor during the recent demolition of the Gillette manufacturing plant. Yeah, he’s sometimes been a bit direct.
Holden’s four-hour Turf Club meet-and-greet was lightly attended, but several of those who came out said they had serious, heartfelt concerns about the future of St. Paul and its struggling parks and rec centers, small businesses that were impacted by light rail construction, the minority achievement gap in the St. Paul Public Schools, crime on the East Side, and the amount of money being funneled into the Lowertown ballpark, a future home of the St. Paul Saints. Holden says he’ll file for office on Tuesday or Wednesday.
Among the Holden supporters at the Turf Club was the Rev. Devin Miller, who had pondered the idea of running for the Ward 1 seat on the St. Paul City Council, and even interviewed with the City Council for a shorter, five-month stint representing Ward 1, which spans Frogtown and Summit-University, as well as parts of bordering neighborhoods. Miller said on Monday that he’s not running for office.
Speaking of the Ward 1 council race, the special DFL endorsing convention on Empire Drive ended Saturday (after five hours and six rounds of voting) without an endorsement. That leaves the door wide open to candidates in November. At 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, Ward 1 candidate Kazoua Kong-Thao will join school board candidate Chue Vue at Mai Village, 394 University Ave., for a fundraiser and campaign meet-and-greet hosted by Bao Vang.
Not all of the 7 candidates who sought DFL endorsement have confirmed they’re running in November, but maybe sometimes means yes. On his Facebook page, Ward 1 candidate Matt Hill says it’s “lawn sign time. Look for big announcements soon.”
Others who are likely to file by Aug. 13 include Johnny Howard, Debbie Montgomery, Mark Voerding, Noel Nix, Dai Thao and Paul Holmgren.