DULUTH — Are you interested in governing the most populous school district in the Northland? Do you also have $2?
The deadline for potential public servants to file the paperwork necessary to run for Duluth School Board is 4 p.m. Tuesday, May 30.
To appear on the Nov. 7 ballot, candidates must fill out an affidavit of candidacy and submit it to the school district’s business office along with a $2 filing fee. (Anyone who wants to forgo the fee can instead file
with
at least a few hundred signatures
.)
The business office is at the district’s temporary headquarters, 4316 Rice Lake Road, Suite 108. Candidates can pick up affidavits there or print them from the
or
Minnesota Secretary of State’s
websites.
Up for grabs this year are three seats: one representing District 2, which covers large tracts of eastern Duluth; another representing District 3, which covers the city’s center; and an at large seat that encompasses the entire district.
As of Monday,
:
- Sarah Mikesell, who is so far running unopposed for the District 2 seat.
- Alanna Oswald, an incumbent who is seeking another term in the at large seat.
- Stephanie Williams, who is challenging Oswald for the at large seat.
- Matthew Moses, who is pursuing the District 3 seat.
- Valerie Joeckel, who announced her candidacy for the District 3 seat earlier this month, has not yet filed to run, but said she planned to Tuesday.
Joeckel, Mikesell, Oswald and Williams sought the endorsement of Duluth-area Democrats earlier this month; Mikesell and Williams earned it.
The endorsement means they’ll have some of the infrastructure and manpower of the Democratic-Farmer-Labor party behind them: a database from which to cull lists of local voters who might swing their way, fliers and other materials to distribute across town, plus an array of volunteers who can make phone calls, go door-to-door and otherwise stump for them.
Joeckel, despite being the only person to seek an endorsement in the District 3 race, did not get a nod from the party at the convention. DFL rules call for a candidate to receive at least 60% of convention votes cast by delegates in their district, and Joeckel didn’t hit that mark, according to Jeff Phillipich, chair of the Duluth DFL.
Joeckel said she believes delegates needed more time to get to know her.
“I think it’s me stepping into new political shoes,” Joeckel, a family coach at a local nonprofit that serves homeless people, told the News Tribune.
“I’m really well-known in the housing community because that’s where I’ve been doing a lot of my work, and so I’m just going to need to do the work to build myself into this new political experience.”
Contributed / Matthew Moses
Moses is a data architect at IBM, an adjunct professor at the College of St. Scholastica who teaches a class each fall, and a freelance photographer. He also helps oversee the Homegrown Music Festival and is a member of Piedmont Elementary’s Parent Teacher Association.
Moses said he mulled a run throughout last week before deciding on Sunday. He filed his paperwork with the school district on Monday. His two children attend Duluth Public Schools. In a news release, he said he wants to ensure there are opportunities for all students districtwide.
“I’ve seen the struggle with both the low-economic kids and those … who are in need of challenges,” Moses told the News Tribune on Monday. “I thought, well, maybe I’ll see if I have anything to offer to help. I know the district’s got technology challenges, and I have a technology background.”
Duluth-area GOP members did not endorse any school board candidates, nor did any ask for the party’s endorsement, according to Thomas Vaughn, chair of the Senate District 8 Republicans.
