Area residents head to the polls Tuesday, Nov. 5
EDITORDCI@KMTEL.COM
Area residents will be heading to the polls on Tuesday, Nov. 5, for the 2024 general election. Voters will be casting their ballots for a variety of federal, state, judicial, county, city, and school board positions. There will also be one amendment to the Minnesota State Constitution on the ballot.
Although the presidential election has focused on the Democratic and Republican candidates, there will actually be nine candidates on the presidential ballot.
Names you will see on your ballot will include Republicans Donald J. Trump and Democrats Kamala D. Harris and Tim Walz but also Chase Oliver and Mike ter Maat (Libertarian Party); Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Nicole Shanahan (We The People); Jill Stein and Samson Kpadenou (Green Party); Claudia De la Cruz and Karina Garcia (Socialism and Liberation); Rachele Fruit and Dennis Richter (Socialist Worker Party); Cornel West and Melina Abdullah (Justice for All); and Shiva Ayyadurai and Crystal Ellis (Independent).
For U.S. Senator, candidates include Amy Klobuchar, Democratic-Farmer-Labor; Royce White, Republican; Rebecca Whiting, Libertarian, and Joyce Lynne Lacey, Independence-Alliance.
In U.S. Representative District 1 candidates include Rachel Bohman, Democratic-Farmer-Labor and Brad Finstad, Republican.
There are only two candidates seeking the State Representative District 24A position including Duane Quam, Republican, and Heather Holmes, Democratic-Farmer-Labor.
There will also be candidates for several judicial offices on the ballot, including the Minnesota Supreme Court, Court of Appeals, and 3rd District Court. All of these positions are non-partisan.
For the Minnesota Supreme Court, the Chief Justice and two Associate Justice positions are on the ballot. Two candidates are running for Chief Justice, including incumbent Natalie E. Hudson and Stephen A. Emery. For Associate Justice 6, candidates are incumbent Karl Procaccini and Matthew R. Hanson. For the Associate Justice 5 position, incumbent Anne McKeig is running unopposed.
For the Court of Appeals, two candidates are running for the Judge 12 position, incumbent Diane B. Bratvold and Jonathan R. Woolsey. For six other positions, all incumbents are running unopposed.
In the Third Judicial District, 10 incumbents are running unopposed.
Local elections will see candidates for mayor, city councils and school boards. There are also races for county commissioners and Soil and Water District Supervisors.
Voters in the Byron school district will also be voting on a levy referendum.