Vacant Ward 3 seat remains up in the air

The Cloquet City Council canvassed votes Tuesday, making the final numbers official with a unanimous vote.

Those vote totals included the write-in candidates for Cloquet’s Ward 3 city council race, with Iris Keller receiving 49 votes to Pete Erickson’s 40. The totals are meaningless, however, as they were too low to beat former city councilor Chris Swanson’s landslide 602 votes.

The race for Ward 3 was, undoubtedly, the most confusing race in the county. Swanson was the sole candidate on the ballot, but cannot serve again as the Ward 3 councilor because he moved outside the boundaries of Cloquet’s central ward in August and subsequently stepped down from his council seat. However, the move came too late to replace his name on the ballot, leading to the need for write-in candidates, which most voters in Ward 3 either didn’t know or understand.

In addition to Keller and Erickson, who actually campaigned for the seat, voters wrote in 13 other names as write-in candidates for Ward 3. All of them got one vote each, with the exception of Gary Dahl, who got two votes. Five people colored in the dot for a write-in candidate but left the space for the name blank.

Keller said running has given her new insight into what it takes to run a campaign.

“I have a deeper respect for those who hold office now, knowing that there is much more to it than yard signs and door knocking,” she said. “Running as a write-in candidate is tough — just to get your name out there is difficult.”

City administrator Tim Peterson said it will now be up to the council to decide whether to hold a special election early next year to fill Swanson’s seat for the next four years, or appoint someone for two years and hold a special election during the next General Election in 2024, for the remaining two years of the term.

Both Keller and Erickson told the Pine Knot that they would likely pursue the seat, but they are waiting to see what the council decides.

“I feel the election went well and the turnout was great from what I could tell,” Erickson said. “I am proud to serve this city and look forward to serving on the city council if appointed or elected. I could not be happier for Ward 3 to have two energetic candidates interested in serving.”

During Tuesday’s meeting, the Ward 3 seat remained vacant, as councilors agreed to ponder their options until the next meeting on Dec. 6. Peterson recommended appointing someone for two years, citing expense and low voter turnout in the last Ward 3 special election.

“Out of 1,300 registered voters [in Ward 3], less than 100 voted in that special election,” Peterson told the council.

In other Cloquet election notes, a total of 4,828 people voted in the midterm election, including 845 absentee ballots and 352 people who registered on Election Day.