In Tuesday’s special primary nonpartisan election for the Hennepin County District 6 commissioner seat, state Rep. Heather Edelson (DFL-50A, Edina) and businesswoman Marisa Simonetti emerged as the top two vote-getters.
With all 66 precincts in the district reporting, the unofficial results on the Minnesota Secretary of State’s website show that Edelson received 3,096, or 44.27% of the votes, followed by Simonetti with 2,214, or 31.66%.
The two will now compete in the special election scheduled for Tuesday, May 14, to fill the vacancy created by Chris LaTondresse’s resignation last September.
Edelson and Simonetti significantly outpaced the four other candidates in Tuesday’s primary, who, like them, reside in Edina. Patrick Gage, a political consultant, secured 10.20% of the vote, followed by Hopkins School Board member Jen Westmoreland with 9.81%. Daniel Moret, a nonprofit leader, garnered 2.16%, while Janet Kitui, director of procurement at Normandale Community College, had 1.90%.
Across Eden Prairie’s six precincts (1, 2, 3, 4, 7, and 8) in District 6 on Tuesday, Simonetti received 144 votes, Edelson received 126 votes, Westmoreland received 26 votes, Gage received 12 votes, Moret received six votes, and Janet Kitui received three votes.
The May 14 special election will be followed by another election for the same seat in November, which will be for a full four-year term starting in January 2025. Prospective candidates for the January 2025 term must file between May 21 and June 4, 2024, a timeframe that also applies to other offices requiring a primary.
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