What's on the ballot: sheriff, county commissioner primary races

Sheriff

Incumbent Sheriff Dave Lange, Sheriff Deputy Marc Chadderdon and Mankato Police Officer Chad Honetschlager have all announced their candidacies for Nicollet County Sheriff. The top two candidates selected by Nicollet County voters will compete in the general election this November.

Lange has served five terms as Nicollet County sheriff, totaling 20 years. His career in Nicollet County law enforcement stretches back 37 years in total.

Chadderdon holds 28 years of experience in law enforcement and 27 at the Nicollet County Sheriff’s Office. The deputy spent the past 16 years as a criminal investigator for the Sheriff’s Office and previously served the county as a jailer and dispatcher.

Honetschlager was born and raised in St. Peter and spent 16 years in project management and sales before making the career change to policing. He then spent 12 years as a volunteer reserve deputy for the Nicollet County Sheriff’s Office and five years as a reserve officer on the Mankato Police Department.

District 1 Commissioner

St. Peter voters residing in Ward 1 will cast their ballots the District 1 Nicollet County Commissioner race. The top two vote-getters of the three candidates will run in the November general.

District 1 Commissioner Marie Dranttel has represented St. Peter Ward 1, Lake Prairie Township and Traverse Township since 2011 and has cast her bid for re-election. Two challengers filed their candidacy for the seat including St. Peter City Councilor and former Le Sueur County Administrator Darrell Pettis and Jennifer Andrashko, Associate Professor of Social Work at Minnesota State University Mankato.

CD 1 special election

In southern Minnesota, the primary will be accompanied by a special election to fill the remainder of the late Rep. Jim Hagedorn’s term. Alongside the special election, 1st Congressional District voters will concurrently choose DFL and Republican candidates for November. The winner in the fall will take the next CD1 term in 2023-24.

Republican Brad Finstad and DFLer Jeff Ettinger, who will face off in the special election, face mostly nominal opposition in the general election primary. However, supporters of Rep. Jeremy Munson, R-Lake Crystal, will get the chance to vote once more for their candidate. Munson, who lost by just 427 votes to Finstad in the special election primary held in May, filed to run in the general election primary, but he isn’t actively campaigning.

Secretary

In the secretary of state race, Republicans have mostly united behind Kim Crockett, a conservative activist, author and attorney. She faces a low-profile opponent in Erik van Mechelen, with the winner expected to face incumbent DFLer Steve Simon.

Attorney general

DFL incumbent Keith Ellison is seeking re-election while Republicans field candidates to unseat him.

Jim Schultz, a first-time candidate whose legal career thus far has been in the private sector, has won the GOP endorsement, but he faces a challenge in the primary from former State Rep. Doug Wardlow, who ran against Ellison four years ago.

Since his defeat in the attorney general’s race, Wardlow has worked as general consul for MyPillow, the Minnesota pillow manufacturer owned by ultra-controversial CEO Mike Lindell, who has insisted that the 2020 election was stolen from Donald Trump.