Ramsey County Board: Six to advance to November
Six candidates for the Ramsey County Board of Commissioners will advance from Tuesday’s political primaries to the November election.
The top vote-getter in one race in particular was largely a foregone conclusion. With a majority of precincts reporting, longstanding county board member Rafael Ortega led with 77 percent of the vote over two challengers, Bill Hosko had 18 percent and Charles Barklind received 5 percent.
Ortega, a labor-connected advocate for public transit services such as the Gold Line and Purple Line, has held the District 5 seat since 1994. Hosko, a fervent door knocker and repeat candidate for St. Paul mayor and city council, has sought elected office since at least 2001. Barklind has run for a county office since at least the late 1980s. The district stretches from Battle Creek and downtown St. Paul to Highland Park.
Hosko will Ortega in November.
District 6
The crystal ball was fuzzier in District 6, where Ramsey County Commissioner Jim McDonough has chosen not to seek re-election after nearly 22 years in office. Seven candidates were vying for the open seat representing much of St. Paul’s Greater East Side and the North End.
Leading into the primary, the St. Paul DFL, TakeAction Minnesota and AFSCME Council 5 had endorsed Mai Chong Xiong, an aide to former St. Paul City Council member Dai Thao, who led Tuesday night with 40 percent of the vote. She was followed by financial consultant Ying Vang-Pao, who held 29 percent of the vote.
Xiong, a heavy fundraiser, was the first candidate to declare, leading the pack by months. McDonough, however, gave his endorsement to Vang-Pao, a daughter of famed Hmong Gen. Vang Pao, who worked closely with the CIA’s Special Forces during the Laotian Civil War.
Other candidates on Tuesday’s ballot included former Ramsey County Commissioner Dino Guerin, who recently ran for mayor of St. Paul with 15 percent; Nick Muhammad, executive director of the Black Civic Network with 5 percent; public health worker Foua Choua Khang with 3 percent; and Clara O. Ware with 3 percent. Perennial candidate Greg Copeland, who had filed to run, later revealed through his campaign’s Facebook website that he no longer lives within the district boundaries due to redistricting. He still held 6 percent of the vote.
District 4
In District 4, board member Toni Carter has chosen not to run for re-election after 17 years in office, leaving an open seat for the first time since March 2005. That opening drew four primary candidates, including state Rep. Rena Moran, who first won elected office in 2010, and led early returns with 79 percent of the vote; Barbara Bolar with 8 percent; Ramsey County Community Services officer Darryl Spence with 7 percent; and photographer George H. Jackson, Sr. with 6 percent.
District 4 spans all or parts of Union Park, Hamline-Midway, Frogtown, Summit-University, North End, downtown, Summit Hill, Macalester-Groveland and Highland Park.
Also on the ballot this November: Ramsey County Board Chair Trista MatasCastillo faces challenger David Singleton. Ramsey County Sheriff Bob Fletcher and Ramsey County Attorney John Choi are uncontested for re-election.
