Primary election results: St. Cloud narrows its mayoral race to two candidates

ST. CLOUD — After Tuesday's primary election, St. Cloud’s mayoral race is down to two candidates, St. Cloud City Council members Jake Anderson and Mike Conway.

The two candidates will now compete in the Nov. 5 general election, with the victor taking the mayor's office come January.

Mayor Dave Kleis, who held the post for nearly 20 years, decided not to seek reelection, opening the gates for one of St. Cloud's largest candidate pools.

Conway and Anderson spoke to the St. Cloud Times regarding their success Tuesday night, and are excited to continue their campaigns.

"Thank you to the folks that helped me so far," Anderson said. "Onto November."

"I am humbled that the voters have chosen me to be one of the candidates to run for the office of mayor," Conway said. "I look forward to the campaign ahead."

Tuesday's primary closes a chapter for Councilmember Carol Lewis. The councilmember decided not to seek reelection in hopes of becoming mayor. Lewis held her city council post since 2012 and served on the school board from 1997 to 2005. Fellow candidate Anne Buckvold and Lewis were vying to become the city's first female mayor.

Roughly 7,280 of St. Cloud's approximately 38,000 registered voters, or roughly 19%, participated in the primary election.

The final results

More on Anderson's campaign: Mayoral candidate Jake Anderson looks to change St. Cloud's aesthetics if elected

More about the two finalists

The St. Cloud Times spoke with all six mayoral candidates and wrote features on their campaigns. Candidates also filled out a brief questionnaire for voters, which can be found below:

Name : Jake Anderson

Age : 44

Occupation : IT project manager for Stearns County, St. Cloud City Council member

Education : St. Cloud State, bachelor of science in information systems

One thing you want to accomplish as mayor : I’d like to build relationships the city has between business, K-12 education, higher education, non-profits and other local governments. I’d like to do this to better leverage our strengths, address our shortcomings and build a sense of pride in our community. I’ve grouped this under Quality of Life in my campaign priorities, and I think working towards St. Cloud Proud is a goal the community can get behind.

Name : Mike Conway

Age : 58

Occupation : Solution consultant with Wolters Kluwer, St. Cloud City Council member

Education : 1994 graduate of St. Cloud State with a degree in biology and education

One thing you want to accomplish as mayor : One of the many things to focus on is expanding the growth and development of downtown. Realizing there is no quick fix will be important for all to remember. This will need to be supported by private and public investment.

Conway's campaign: Councilmember Mike Conway becomes third mayoral candidate in 2024 election

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

This article originally appeared on St. Cloud Times: Primary election results: St. Cloud narrows its mayoral race to two candidates