Five DFLers will face off tomorrow in a primary election for the House District 5B seat that became vacant when DFLer Tony Sertich was appointed commissioner of the Iron Range Resources and Rehabilitation Board.
The primary candidates:
- Carly Melin of Hibbing, who got the DFL endorsement in the race over the weekend; she also is backed by AFSCME and Education Minnesota. She is 25, an attorney, and works for the state judiciary system. She was once a legislative intern for Sertich.
- Jeffrey “Jeff” Kletscher, 47, the mayor of Floodwood and president of the Minnesota Association of Small Cities and a member of the board of the League of Minnesota Cities.
- Raymond Lee Pierce Jr., 39, of Hibbing, a millwright and member of the United Steel Workers Local 6115 legislative committee, with endorsements from USW locals.
- Shelley Robinson, 50, of Hibbing, executive director of Range Center Inc., a nonprofit serving adults and children with disabilities across the Iron Range and served as a public member on the Iron Range Resources and Rehabilitation Board.
- John J. Spanish, 89, a retired machinist from Hibbing and a former DFL representative in the late 1960s and 1970s. He’s been a frequent candidate for office in the past 30 years.
Tuesday’s winner will go on to the Feb. 15 special election against Republican Paul Jacobsen and Independence Party candidate Cynthia Kafut-Hagen.
