Roughly 1 in 3 of the registered voters in Bloomington and Edina, and fewer than 1 in 10 in Eden Prairie turned out to vote in this off-year election. In Edina and Eden Prairie, the election focused on school board races without the draw of contested city offices or a school tax referendum. While Bloomington added mayor and city council elections to contested school board seats, its election managed to attract just a 30.9% turn-out.

The results largely pointed to a preference to keep things as they are rather than support a change in direction. The Bloomington and Eden Prairie school board races did not focus on any issues of significant note or any major differentiators. Those contests appeared to come down to preferences for individual candidates.

In Bloomington, two incumbent city councilors retained their seats and a current city councilman succeeded the retiring mayor. They defeated challengers who sought greater transparency in city council operations and a greater willingness of the city government to listen and understand citizen concerns, particularly involving planning and ordinances.

In Edina, voters were asked if they agreed that the school system was meeting their expectations, or if school policies need to re-emphasize education excellence. The candidates that prevailed were the ones who felt that the Edina schools were doing just fine. Those candidates also benefitted from the support of the Edina teachers’ union and the local DFL party.

Bloomington Elections

Total registered voters as of Election Day morning: 56,950 and17,604 total referendum votes – a jump of 4,000 votes over the 2017 election. Turnout was 30.9% of eligible voters.

Bloomington School Board
• Nelly Korman          9,015 (21.80%) Elected
• Heather Starks        8,674 (20.98%) Elected
• Mia Olson               7,474 (18.08%) Elected
• John Moravec         7,387 (17.87%)
• Maureen Bartolotta 5,496 (13.29%)
• Scott Christensen   3,153 (7.63%)
• WRITE-IN                145 (0.35%)

Bloomington City Council

Mayor
• Tim Busse     9,955 (55.74%)
• Ryan Kulka    7,868 (44.06%)
• WRITE-IN           36 (0.20%)

At Large
• Jenna Carter              10,718 (61.75%)
• Brian "Clem" Clemens   6,614 (38.11%)
• WRITE-IN                         24 (0.14%)

District 1
• Dwayne A. Lowman  2,521 (56.84%)
• Al Noard                  1,903 (42.91%)
• WRITE-IN                     11 (0.25%)

District 2
• Shawn Nelson                       3,050 (63.95%)
• Susan "Hofmeister" Woodruff 1,704 (35.73%)
• WRITE-IN                                 15 (0.31%)

Thank-you to Ryan Kulka, Al Noard, Susan Woodruff, and Clem Clemens for your willingness to run for office and give Bloomington voters a choice.

Bloomington Charter Liquor License Referendum
• YES   13,602 (77.27%)
• NO      4,002 (22.73%)

Edina School Board Elections (Edina did not hold City Council elections)

Voter turnout in the election was about 3% less than for the school board election two years ago. Total registered voters as of Election Day morning: 29,234. If each ballot had 3 school board votes, there were about 10779 voters (36.8%), down from 2017’s school board and levy election which had 11,254 (40% turnout).

• Janie Shaw                        5,882 (18.19%) Elected
• Julie Greene                       5,829 (18.02%) Elected
• Leny K. Wallen-Friedman     5,653 (17.48%) Elected
• Linda Friede                        5,327 (16.42%)
• Sarah Patzloff                      4,770 (14.75%)
• Lou Nanne Jr.                      4,589 (14.19%)
• Garrett Knudsen                    266   ( 0.82%)
• WRITE-IN                               23    ( 0.07%)

Thank-you to incumbent Sarah Patzloff, and newcomers Linda Friede and Lou Nanne Jr. for strong campaigns and willingness to compete in a contentious, important election. You brought skills, fresh ideas and genuine concern for the well-being of Edina students to the attention of the community.

Eden Prairie School Board Elections (Eden Prairie did not hold City Council elections)

As of 7 AM on Election Day, the Eden Prairie school district had 37,792 registered voters. If all of the voters who cast ballots this year chose four candidates, about 3,430 voters participated in this year’s election (only about 9%). Even so, this is an 89% increase over 2017, when about 1,816 voters participated.

• Adam Seidel                 2,248 (16.39%) Elected
• Debjyoti “DD” Dwivedy  2,065 (15.06%) Elected
• Aaron Casper                2,021 (14.73%) Elected
• Veronica Stoltz              1,382 (10.07%) Elected
• Esra Riggs                     1,356 ( 9.88%)
• Aaron Orwick                 1,276 ( 9.30%)
• Fadumo Hassan              1,031 ( 7.52%)
• Krystal Queen                   976 ( 7.11%)
• Erin Barstad                      961 ( 7.00%)
• Albert Born                       365  ( 2.66%)
• WRITE-IN                           38  ( 0.28%)