One Hastings City Council seat in each of the four wards will be on the ballot this fall.
Candidates wishing to run to be a councilmember must fill out and submit an affidavit of candidacy available on the city website (hastingsmn.gov) and pay a $5 filing fee to the city clerk. The filing period officially opens Tuesday, May 21 at 8 a.m.
For those interested in learning more about the role of a councilmember, a Candidate Information Session will be held Tuesday, May 21 at 6 p.m.
The city election will be held along with the Presidential election and state races on Tuesday, Nov. 5. If any of the seats draws more than two candidates, a primary election will be held to cut the number of candidates to two on Aug. 13.
There will be at least one new city councilmember, as Jen Fox, who represents Ward 2, is running for election to the Minnesota House of Representatives in District 41B. State law precludes candidates from holding state and local office. The 41B House seat is being vacated by Shane Hudella, who decided against seeking re-election. Fox is running as a Democrat against Tom Dippel, the Republican candidate.
Seats on the ballot are currently held by:
Ward 1 – DawnMarie Vihrachoff, who was appointed in March to fill the remainder of the term of Tina Folch, who resigned.
Ward 2 – Fox. Fox served one term, being elected in 2020.
Ward 3 – Lisa Leifeld, who is in her second term in the position.
Ward 4 – Tim Lawrence, who was appointed to the seat in 2023 when it was vacated.
Not on the ballot this year are the seats for mayor (Mayor Mary Fasbender was first elected in 2018 and re-elected in 2022) or the two at-large city council seats (Dave Pemble and Angie Haus were elected in 2022). Those seats will be on the ballot in 2026.
The municipal candidate filing period ends June 4, 2024 at 5 p.m. The last day for a candidate to withdraw from the election is Thursday, June 6 at 5 p.m.