Township election results: Write-in candidate wins in West Lakeland, incumbent holds on to seat in May

Mary Divine, Pioneer Press
Updated ·1 min read

Township elections results in Washington County ranged from a nail-biter to a landslide on Tuesday night.

In May Township, Town Board Supervisor Steve Magner held off a challenge from Mark Deissner and won by four votes. Magner received 240 votes; Deissner got 236 votes.

Magner served on the township’s planning commission for 17 years before being elected to the town board in 2021.

In West Lakeland Township, write-in candidate Rachel Dana soundly defeated Vince Anderson. Dana received 811 write-in votes; Anderson received 160 votes.

Dana, 40, who has served on the planning commission since 2021, said she was asked to run as a write-in campaign after residents realized former town board chairman Dave Schultz had decided not to run for re-election. She missed the deadline for filing for election.

Dana, who also serves on the township’s building committee, is a director of construction for Ryan Cos. in Minneapolis, where she leads the company’s national retail construction team.

Anderson and the township recently reached a settlement regarding the litigation for ordinance violations; neither party admitted any liability, township officials said.

On Tuesday night, Anderson thanked everyone who voted.

“Rachel and I have talked, and I will do all she wants to help her with town history, and Minnesota statutes, and town ordinances,” he said.

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