by Paul Rignell
Contributing Writer
Polls closed on election night to show that incumbent School Board candidate Holly Thompson placed well ahead of all other challengers for three available board seats.
Her total of 13,708 votes put her about 3,500 votes ahead of challenger Christi Tullbane, of Rogers. Joel Nelson, of Elk River, took the third seat in a field of six candidates.
Tullbane entered the race with experience on the district’s Community Education board of directors and also the Legislative Action Team which represents the district in contacts with the area’s state legislators at work in St. Paul.
Thompson was the only incumbent running for election, as her current board colleagues Sue Farber and Dan Hunt chose not to file for re-election to the seats where their terms are expiring in December.
Thompson served as chairperson for the board through part of 2016, but she stepped down from that role sometime after last spring’s election filing period (with Shane Steinbrecher moving up as board chair) and Thompson has cited personal reasons for missing some board meetings through the summer and fall.
She declined to respond to questions from the Star News for inclusion in a voters’ guide before Election Day, and Thompson was also unavailable for comment after election results were final.
Tullbane was the only other candidate in Tuesday’s race to receive more than 10,000 votes from the district residents in Rogers, Otsego, Elk River and Zimmerman.
“I am grateful for all of the support I’ve received and appreciate the voters’ confidence in me,” Tullbane told the Star News. “I am excited to get started in January. … I look forward to working with the other board members and all parties within the district to continue to provide leading educational opportunities for our students.”
Even before being sworn in to office, the district’s incoming board members will be involved in the search for hiring a new superintendent of schools. The district’s former superintendent Mark Bezek left Elk River at the end of last July to accept the school superintendent’s position in Somerset, Wisconsin.
“We have a number of key decisions to make this year,” Tullbane said, “and I look forward to the open dialogue to ensure we are making the best decisions possible.”
Trailing the vote total of 10,203 for Tullbane, candidate Joel Nelson received 9,902 votes to lead all remaining challengers and win the third seat.
“(The results are) kind of overwhelming for me,” said Nelson, who is known by many from the community in his role as executive pastor at Gateway Church in Elk River. He noted that he did not pay to print one sign nor did he spend any other money on the campaign. “There’s a lot more people who have voted for me than I know in Elk River or the school district.”
A native of northern Minnesota, Nelson says he is known for conservative beliefs and that he has lived in this district for more than 20 years. His wife, JoDee, is a graduate of Elk River High School.
Nelson pledged in the Star News voters’ guide to be a fiscally responsible board member while advocating for students’ best interests.
“I want to make sure our kids get a great education. That’s a number-one priority as a school board member,” Nelson said on election night. “But I want to seek creative ways for reaching solutions without always throwing extra money at it.”
The remaining candidates in the race included Kristian Mortenson, John Parker and Gary Kowalkowski, all of Elk River. Mortenson received 9,487 votes in the polling, ahead of 9,426 for Parker and 8,589 for Kowalkowski.
Among those three, only Parker had submitted responses for the voters’ guide. He described himself as a “regular guy” with no formal higher education but he is an Air Force veteran who repaired aircraft during his service before enjoying a career in auto repair and the printing industry.
Parker’s family with young children lives in the Twin Lakes Elementary School zone, and the student population there has grown more rapidly than in some other district buildings. Parker says he was spurred to file for candidacy after hearing of options to redraw the school attendance boundary lines in order to redistribute some of the district’s students.
He had no district committee experience before filing for election, but he says that he is eager to pursue other opportunities for aiding the schools.
“I still have an interest in doing something, but I’m not quite sure what yet,” Parker said. “I congratulate those who won (this week). They have a lot of work cut out for them. We’re continuing to have a good board.”