Three file for sheriff post

By Brad Swenson
Bemidji Pioneer

A Sept. 12 primary for Beltrami County sheriff emerged Wednesday, the first day of filing for the 2006 election.

Three filed for the post, including Deputy Sgt. Scott Winger and sheriff’s Investigator Brian Ball — both from within the department — and Phil Hodapp, a special agent with the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension.

They seek to replace Beltrami County Sheriff Keith Winger, who in March said he would not seek a third term.

All Beltrami County incumbents for County Board and county offices filed for re-election, and races already developed for two positions with filing on the opening day.

Filing runs through July 18, with candidates having two additional days should they decide to withdraw.

In the sheriff’s race, Scott Winger joined the department in 1990 and currently supervises deputies on the day shift, the department’s Civil Process Division, county parks patrol and those who patrol federal forestry lands in the county and on the Chippewa National Forest.

Ball is a 25-year veteran of the Sheriff’s Department, moving through the ranks as a field deputy to handling the department’s investigations. He has previously run for sheriff.

Hodapp is a 30-year law enforcement officer, 20 with the BCA in Beltrami County. He previously served in Texas as a police officer and a state trooper.

All three incumbent county commissioners filed Wednesday for re-election, with a race developing in District 1, involving southeastern Beltrami County and Bemidji city Ward 5.

Commissioner Jack Frost filed for re-election to a second, full four-year term. He was first elected an August 2001 special election and then won a full term in 2002. Frost is a Lake Andrusia resort owner, moving to the area after a career as a transportation manager in the Twin Cities.

Challenging him is John Persell II, who is currently a Beltrami Soil and Water Conservation District supervisor. Persell, who directs the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe’s Water Quality Department and Research Lab, has twice sought DFL endorsement for the Minnesota House 4A seat.

Filing for re-election were District 2 Commissioner Joe Vene for a full four-year term, after winning a November 2004 special election, and District 3 Commissioner Jim Heltzer, seeking a third term.

A race developed Wednesday for Beltrami County recorder, as long-time incumbent Ann Allen filed for re-election and will be challenged by Lee Hawk, who retired in 2001 as a broadcast professor in Bemidji State University’s Mass Communications Department, which he also headed.

Allen, after serving as deputy recorder, won election as county recorder in 1982.

Also filing for re-election were County Auditor-Treasurer Kay Mack and County Attorney Tim Faver.

In the only regional partisan filing on opening day, state Rep. Kent Eken, DFL-Twin Valley, filed for a third term to his House 2A seat.

In the 9th Judicial District, Crow Wing County District Judges Richard Zimmerman and John Leitner filed for re-election.