Township election results: Write-in candidate wins in West Lakeland, incumbent holds on to seat in May

Township elections results in Washington County ranged from a nail-biter to a landslide on Tuesday night.

In May Township, Town Board Supervisor Steve Magner held off a challenge from Mark Deissner and won by four votes. Magner received 240 votes; Deissner got 236 votes.

Magner served on the township’s planning commission for 17 years before being elected to the town board in 2021.

In West Lakeland Township, write-in candidate Rachel Dana soundly defeated Vince Anderson. Dana received 811 write-in votes; Anderson received 160 votes.

Dana, 40, who has served on the planning commission since 2021, said she was asked to run as a write-in campaign after residents realized former town board chairman Dave Schultz had decided not to run for re-election. She missed the deadline for filing for election.

Dana, who also serves on the township’s building committee, is a director of construction for Ryan Cos. in Minneapolis, where she leads the company’s national retail construction team.

Anderson and the township recently reached a settlement regarding the litigation for ordinance violations; neither party admitted any liability, township officials said.

In 2021, the Minnesota Department of Administration, in response to an inquiry from Anderson, found that the West Lakeland Township Board had violated the state’s open meeting law when it failed to maintain a journal of votes and when it changed meeting locations without proper notice.

On Tuesday night, Anderson thanked everyone who voted.

“Rachel and I have talked, and I will do all she wants to help her with town history, and Minnesota statutes, and town ordinances,” he said.

Related Articles

Missing Washington County woman found dead in Wisconsin state park

Washington County has new fire-suppression devices, and one already helped save a St. Paul Park home

Hudson chooses finalists for city administrator job

St. Paul man in custody after shooting at Oakdale officers during standoff

#FreeGunnar: Mahtomedi rallies around student who jumped the glass at Minnesota boys hockey state tournament