Kleis helps residents meet St. Cloud's 16 City Council candidates

ST. CLOUD — St. Cloud residents have a lot of research to do before the Aug. 13 primary election with 16 city council and 6 mayoral candidates vying for their vote.

“This is by far one of the highest candidate turnouts I've seen since being in office," St. Cloud Mayor Dave Kleis said in early June. "It's encouraging to see that many people want to serve. There's a lot of great candidates too. I think it's a great opportunity to see new leadership."

After St. Cloud’s primary election occurs, the two mayoral and six city council candidates with the highest number of votes will progress to the Nov. 5 general election.

Kleis, who says local politics are the most important because it impacts day-to-day life, took the time to interview each city council candidate, and the recordings are available for the public at https://govtv.stcloudcity.com/CablecastPublicSite/show/1814?site=3. He asked each candidate the same questions.

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Candidates vying for St. Cloud's three open city council seats include incumbent George Hontos, Scott Brodeen, Tami Calhoun, Patrick Crooks, Alex Cutchey, Bill Doll, Mindy Ellingson, Charlie Hobbs, Lenora Hunt, Hudda Ibrahim, Mark Johnson, Nicholas Lengyel, Emmanuel Oppong, Michael Peterson, Omar Abdullahi Podi and Garrett Zimmerman.

St. Cloud’s local Republican unit — Senate District 14 Republicans — told voters at a July 10 town hall that it recommends candidates Scott Brodeen, Alex Cutchey, Bill Doll, Mark Johnson, Nicholas Lengyel and Garrett Zimmerman for the St. Cloud City Council.

Senate District 14 Democrats as of July 15 recommends candidates Tami Calhoun, Charlie Hobbs, George Hontos and Omar Podi for city council.

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However, Kleis previously told the St. Cloud Times considering party politics in local elections isn’t always the best practice.

“It's not political. There is no Republican or Democrat way to plow a street or fill a pothole in Minnesota,” Kleis said in April. “It does not help in any way to be part of partisan politics at a local level.”

Corey Schmidt covers local government for the St. Cloud Times. He can be reached at cschmidt@gannett.com.