HomeMy WebLinkAbout2015 11-04 Maplewood voters elect newcomers to city council, Mahtomedi incumbent mayor wins PIONEER PRESS 11/4/2015 Mapiewood voters elect newcomers to city council,Mahtomedi incumbent mayor wins-TwinCities.com
Maplewood voters elect newcomers to city council, Mahtomedi incumbent mayor wins
Updated:11/04/2015 12:16:22 AM CST Twin Citie s.co m
Maplewood voters sided with a pair of newcomers over some long-standing familiarfaces during city council elections Tuesday.
Political neophytes Tou Xiong and Bryan Smith bested former Maplewood mayors Bob Cardinal and Diana Longrie in what proved to be a tight
race. Cardinal also was an incumbent council member.
Tou Xiong took the largest percentage of votes with 30 percent,followed by Smith with 26 percent. Cardinal and Longrie trailed with 24 and 19
percent, respectively.
"I think they felt the energy with our campaign. I think the city wanted to see a fresh face and hear a new voice,"Xiong said minutes after all
the votes were tallied.
Added Smith, "I think they(voters)are looking to continue the path of sensible government in Maplewood, making sure we have a businesslike
approach to how we run City Hall, a govemment thaYs open and reasonable."
Xiong,an urban planning organizer for Harrison Neighborhood Association in Minneapolis, has lived in Maplewood for 12 years and graduated
recently from William Mitchell College of Law.
Smith, a marketing manager at Tennant Co. in Minneapolis, has lived in Maplewood for five years with his wife and 7-year-old son.
Cardinal was mayor of the city for six years in the eariy 2000s and was elected to the city council in 2011.
Longrie, a lawyer and frequent political candidate,was mayor from 2006 to 2010.
Xiong and Smith will fill Cardinal's open seat and one being vacated by Marvin Koppen,another fixture in Maplewood politics. Koppen served a
total of 12 years on council,off and on, since 1993. He said he chose not to run because of the city's relative stability.
FALCON HEIGHTS
Falcon Heights Mayor Peter Lindstrom won a lopsided battle to retain his position against challenger Lisa McDonald,taking 82 percent of the
vote.
Incumbent Joe Brown Thunder held onto his council seat, gamering the largest portion of votes at 36 percent. Randy Gustafson took 25
percent, enough to secure the second open seat,while fellow candidates Tom Brance and Gordon Strom followed with 20 and 18 percent,
respectively.
In a battle for a third open seat via special election, newcomer Tony Fischer bested Michael Tracy with 60 percent of the vote.
NEW BRIGHTON
In the New Brighton race for mayor,Val Johnson won with 39 percent of the vote, edging out incumbent Dave Jacobsen,who had 37 percent.
Gina Bauman placed third with 23 percent of the vote.
In the city council race, incumbents Mary Burg and Paul Jacobsen retained their seats,taking 36 and 33 percent of the vote, respectively.They
beat Susan Erickson,who had 17 percent, and Rick Moses,who had 15 percent.
MAHTOMEDI
In Washington County, a three-way race for mayor of Mahtomedi ended with incumbent Jud Marshall handily besting his competition to land a
fourth term.
Marshall,who was first elected mayor in 2003,was challenged by former city Fire Chief Todd Rogers and Bill Coleman,the founder of TEDx
Mahtomedi. Marshall is a retired manufacturer's representative.
Marshall received 48 percent of the vote,followed by Coleman,who received 30 percent,and Rogers,who gamered 22 percent.
Two seats for the Mahtomedi City Council also were up for election —and the two incumbents did just as well.Top vote-getters included Richard
Brainerd,with 36 percent of the vote, and Timothy Deans,with 32 percent.
Brainerd, an independent consultant in human resources and current president of the city council,was first elected to the council in 2003. Prior
to his election, he served on the city's finance commission for more than six years and is a former president of the League of Minnesota Cities.
Deans, a fire department captain,was first elected to council in 201 1.
The other two candidates—retired firefighter Christopher Belflower and Richard Geier, a manufacturing manager at Multi-Tech Systems Inc.—
received 17 and 15 percent of the vote, respectively.
ST. PAUL PARK
Incumbents Jennifer Cheesman and Tim Jones beat out challenger Dale Roth.
Cheesman received 40 percent of the votes,followed by Jones at 35 percent. Roth received the remaining 25 percent.
Tad Vezner can be reached at 651-228-5461 or follow him on Twitter @SPnoir.
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