Voters in Ramsey, Dakota and Washington counties voted Tuesday to select their final two county board candidates for several districts to advance to the November general election.

The top vote-getters in District 7 in Ramsey County, District 5 in Dakota County and District 3 in Washington County will appear on the ballot Nov. 5.

Other commission districts up for election in those counties did not have competitive primaries.

Polls had closed at 8 p.m. Tuesday, but as of 10 p.m. results were not yet available for Ramsey county.

Washington County

Stillwater resident Bethany Cox and state Rep. Mark Wiens were leading with more than three-quarters of the precincts reporting in the race for the Washington County Commissioner District 3 seat.

Cox, director of development at the Wild Rivers Conservancy, had 43% of the vote with 16 of 20 precincts reporting. Wiens, R-Lake Elmo, had 33% of the vote.

Scott “Cutter” Junker, of Stillwater, had 19% of the vote; Michael Schultz, of Lake Elmo, had 5% of the vote.

Commissioner Gary Kriesel is retiring after 20 years on the board. Kriesel, 81, of Stillwater, was first elected to the Washington County Board of Commissioners in 2004. He was reelected in 2008, 2012, 2016 and 2020. He announced last year that he would not be seeking re-election after his term expires at the end of this year.

Prior to joining the county board, Kriesel served for two years on the Stillwater City Council.

Kriesel said Tuesday that he has endorsed Wiens for the seat.

Wiens said Tuesday night that he was looking forward to the campaign. “Bethany Cox is a good competitor, and I look forward to discussing progress for Washington County in coming weeks,” he said. “Scott Junker had a strong showing, and I respect his commitment to our community.”

Ramsey County

Four candidates are vying for the open District 7 seat on the Ramsey County Commission, representing Maplewood, North St. Paul and White Bear Lake. The seat is open after Ramsey County Commissioner Victoria Reinhardt chose not to run for reelection after 27 years in office.

Candidates include Kevin Berglund, who has been active in Maplewood politics; Kelly Miller, director of the Department of Indian Work at Interfaith Action of Greater St. Paul; Sarah K. Yang, the academic coordinator at TRIO Upward Bound; and Michelle Yener, the associate director of curriculum at the College of Liberal Arts, University of Minnesota.

Four seats on the seven-member board are up for election this year — though one race will be decided by a special election in February.

Ramsey County Commissioner Mary Jo McGuire is uncontested for re-election to the board’s District 2 seat, and Tara Jebens-Singh is the sole candidate for the District 1 seat, which is currently held by Nicole Frethem, who has chosen not to run for re-election.

Former Ramsey County Board Chair Trista Martinson stepped down earlier this month, creating an opening for her District 3 seat, which represents Falcon Heights and a long swath of St. Paul’s northern neighborhoods, including St. Anthony Park, Como Park, South Como, the North End, Hamline-Midway, Frogtown and Payne-Phalen.

The primary for the District 3 seat will be held Nov. 5, with a final election in February. Garrison McMurtrey and Joshua David Bau have both filed to run, though other candidates have also expressed interest.

Dakota County

Incumbent Dakota County Commissioner Liz Workman is advancing to the general election to defend her District 5 seat, which represents an area spanning the city of Burnsville.

Workman, who has been in office since 2009, will face Yusuf Haji, a journalist and former Minnesota Department of Revenue outreach coordinator in the general election.

With 141 of 142 precincts reporting late Tuesday night, Workman had 40.4% of the vote. In second place was Haji, who had 25.1%.

Others who appeared on the ballot included Bruce Johnson, who sits on the Dakota County Soil and Water board and former state representative Phillip M. Sterner, the president of the Sterner Insurance Agency, who represented House District 37B in 2009 and 2010.

County Commissioner Bill Droste is uncontested for re-election to the District 4 seat. County Commissioner Mary Hamann-Roland is uncontested for re-election to the District 7 seat.

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