UPDATED: Nowell reelected as St. Peter mayor; Rossow, Kautt, Rassbach, Stuewe elected to School Board

Nov. 8—ST. PETER — Voters in St. Peter once again faced a busy off-year election, picking a mayor, three council members and — joined by residents of Kasota and rural areas surrounding St. Peter — four members of the St. Peter Public Schools Board.

Mayor Shanon Nowell, the first female in 100 years to be elected to St. Peter's top municipal post, won a second two-year term after defeating then-Mayor Chuck Zieman and then-fellow-Council member Ed Johnson in 2021. Nowell totaled 1,023 votes to 649 for Johnson and 630 for Zieman two years ago.

All three were on the ballot again this year, but only Nowell and Johnson — a longtime manager of the Red Men Club — filed for mayor.

Nowell received 1,108 votes to Johnson's 872 in Tuesday's rematch — 56% of the vote to 44%.

Four seats were on the ballot for the St. Peter Public Schools School Board with Ken Rossow, Bill Kautt, Rita Rassbach and Tracy Stuewe winning seats.

Kautt and Stuewe are incumbents and Rossow served on the board in the past. Rassbach was successful after coming up short in a 2021 School Board bid.

St. Peter mayor

In her campaign, Nowell emphasized the need to create more housing options in St. Peter, support diversity and ensure "a sustainable and green future for all residents."

At a candidate forum sponsored by the local League of Women Voters chapter and the St. Peter Herald, Nowell also mentioned her desire to ensure the entire community is heard, particularly as the city develops a comprehensive plan over the next year: "Everybody needs to have a voice."

"I'd also like to talk about civility and professionalism. That is something that is highly important to me," said Nowell, a Gustavus Adolphus College employee. "I think we see that in our current council, and it has been an honor and a privilege to serve ... ."

Johnson, along with his past experience on the City Council and his 37 years of managing the Redmen's Club, has been a volunteer firefighter for 18 years.

He listed his top priorities as maintaining adequate funding for the Police Department to ensure the safety of the community and supporting more "medium-income housing" in addition to low-income housing.

St. Peter council

Ziemen was one of four candidates seeking a pair of four-year council terms representing Ward 2, which covers the southern half of St. Peter. Also seeking to win one of the Ward 2 seats were incumbent Council member Brad DeVos and challengers Charlie Rustman, a production manager at Jarraff Industries, and Joshua Weisenfeld, a Gustavus graduate and an attorney. The second expiring term in Ward 2 is currently held by Emily Bruflat, who didn't file for another term.

With the top two voter-getters winning a Ward 2 seat, DeVos (529 votes) and Weisenfeld (496) prevailed. Zieman finished third with 286 votes, followed by Rustman with 248, according to results provided by the city of St. Peter.

Zieman's decision to seek a Ward 2 seat rather than a return to the mayor's office put him in a head-to-head contest against DeVos. The two men had clashed leading up to the 2021 election with DeVos accusing Zieman of resorting to "threats, bullying and intimidation" when dealing with other council members and Zieman criticizing newcomers to the council for wasting time during meetings with "virtue signaling."

A bit of continuing friction seemed evident in the pre-election candidate forum sponsored by the LWV and the Herald.

During the forum, Zieman promised to not accept his council salary if the rest of the council unanimously agreed to cut their wages in half: "So let's see where your commitment is to the community."

DeVos responded: "I didn't expect to come to a Dutch auction where we decide who the best candidate is by picking the lowest bidder. But if you base your vote off of who's the cheapest, you get what you pay for."

DeVos, who operates a financial consulting business, emphasized his past support of new housing complexes in St. Peter and his habit of scrutinizing city budgets and asking questions about gaps he finds. He said he would be "a major advocate of clean energy" and supports diversity, equity and inclusion by seeking the perspectives of disadvantaged groups.

Weisenfeld, who was born and raised in St. Peter, told voters he wanted to bring his personal experience in the community and his professional experience as an attorney to the council. He said his goal is to "bring the community together," work closely with small businesses and strengthen St. Peter's strategic plan to "build a sustainable, resilient community for the future."

"Together we can write the next chapter of the city of St. Peter," Weisenfeld said during the LWV forum.

On the city's north side, Keri Johnson won a second four-year term in Ward 1. Johnson, the personnel administrator at the St. Peter Food Co-op, was the only candidate to file for the single seat up for election this year in Ward 1.

St. Peter Public Schools

Along with being one of the few outstate Minnesota cities to hold odd-year municipal elections, St. Peter also elects its School Board members in off years.

Seven of the nine candidates seeking the four seats on the ballot are not currently on the seven-member board. Kautt and Stuewe were the only incumbents seeking a new four-year term. Two incumbents with expiring terms — Tim Lokensgard and Ben Leonard — did not file for reelection.

The other candidates were Rassbach, Rossow, Marty Duncan, Amanda Hird, Michael Spear, Bill Weber and Krystal Loula.

Seats were awarded to the top four vote-getters, but there were long delays in reporting the results. Not a single vote had been reported as of 12:30 a.m. Wednesday, according to the Minnesota Secretary of State's election results webpage. Even by noon Wednesday, official results were absent for the race on the state elections page and the detailed vote count had not yet been reported on the St. Peter Public Schools webpage or the district's Facebook page.

However, Supt. Bill Gronseth did reveal the winners Wednesday morning.

"We are not sure why official results have not been posted on the State website yet and are looking into it," Gronseth wrote on the district webpage. "In the meantime we want to thank everyone who ran for the Saint Peter School Board and congratulate the top four: Ken Rossow, Bill Kautt, Rita Rassbach, and Tracy Stuewe."

The election was held in the midst of increasing polarization and a growing focus on social issues in school board elections in Minnesota and across the nation.

Stuewe, Weber and Loula were endorsed by the Minnesota Parents Alliance. The Alliance is nonpartisan with a stated mission of supporting school board candidates who want school districts to focus on academic achievement, equality and parental rights, but it has partnered with conservative groups such as the Center of the American Experiment that have been highly critical of Minnesota's public school system.

The Alliance's website doesn't specify what prompted the three endorsements in St. Peter, stating only that endorsements were "based on MPA's research of their platform and campaign, as well as input we receive from engaged, informed parents in each community."