13 commissioner candidates could be a record for county

Published 12:00am Monday, December 20, 1999
Comments

The 13 candidates for the Third District County Commissioner seat are the most for any county election in recent history, the Otter Tail County Auditor’s office said. Nobody remembered an election that even approached 13 candidates; the longest list of hopefuls before this year was nine, for a First District special election in 1991. The week-and-a-half filing period for the open seat ended Friday. The candidates are Les Estes and Clinton Bengtson of Battle Lake; Vic Petterson, Ben Nelson, Bruce Kolle, Darrel Tungseth, Jerry Thompson and Steve Leitte of rural Fergus Falls; Dennis Mosher and Judy Jensen of Dalton; and Gene Martinson, Barbara Nelson and Gene Bjorklund of Underwood. Otter Tail County’s Coalition of Lake Associations (COLA) has scheduled a &uot;meet the candidates&uot; forum Wednesday, Dec. 29 at 7 p.m. at the Otter Tail Power community rooms. &uot;We feel there’s probably not much time for people to get to know the candidates,&uot; said COLA president Merv Freeman. &uot;We know this is a very important leadership role in the county, and the county has to have the opportunity to really see the candidates.&uot; The primary is planned for Tuesday, Jan. 4 and the commissioner election will be Tuesday, Jan. 25. The election will decide who succeeds the late Andy Lindquist, who died of natural causes Nov. 30. dylan.belden@fergusfallsjournal.com

Comments

Editor's Picks