Menahga and Nevis chose new mayors in Tuesday’s city elections, while incumbent mayors in Park Rapids and Akeley were re-elected.

In Park Rapids, Mayor Ryan Leckner ran unopposed, winning his second term with 1,721 votes to 19 write-ins.

“I’m honored to serve Park Rapids again, for another two years, as the mayor, and will do everything the best I can to serve the city,” said Leckner. “I think we have a lot of good things going in the city, if we can get past this pandemic and get back to our agenda,” which he described as trying to lower taxes and grow jobs and housing in the city.

Elected to two positions on the Park Rapids City Council, incumbents Liz Stone had 1,447 votes and Robert Wills had 1,168; there were 21 write-ins.

New mayor in Nevis

Nevis voters elected Jeanne Thompson as mayor with 124 votes (71.3 percent) to 50 write-ins (28.7 percent).

“I am proud to have been elected mayor of Nevis for the next two years,” Thompson said. “I feel so strongly that it is everyone’s responsibility to be involved in their community in some way, shape or form, and this is where I fit. As a council, our first order of business will be to find a replacement for my now empty seat on the council. We, as a council, will be speaking with the other write-in candidates, as well as others in our community, to see if there is any interest in filling that role. Our goal is to have a strong council who are passionate about doing the right thing for the city and its citizens and businesses. These are challenging times, and as a council, it is our goal to continue working together to continue to keep our city and our businesses thriving.

“I invite all citizens to attend any and all public meetings of the city council. The council appreciates your participation and involvement in our city. Please know you can reach out to any of us via email if you have any questions or concerns. Our contact information and information on council meetings can be found on the City of Nevis website at nevis.govoffice.com.”

Elected to two city council seats were Sue Gray with 116 votes and Teresa Leshovsky with 107. There were also 75 write-in votes for the Nevis council.

Contested races in Menahga

Elizabeth Olson was elected mayor of Menahga by 537 votes, 74.6 percent of the total. Trailing her at the polls were Timothy Ellingson with 120 votes (16.7 percent), Karol Andreasen with 62 votes (8.6 percent) and 1 write-in.

“I was truly amazed at the results of the Menahga mayoral race,” Olson said. “Thank you! I sincerely appreciate your confidence in me to do what is in the best interest for Menahga and to move our wonderful city forward in the future. I know we can accomplish this by all working together. Thanks again for your awesome support!”

In a race for two seats on the Menahga City Council, Durwin Tomperi took the most votes with 392 (33.85 percent). Daniel T. Warmbold narrowly won the second seat with 270 votes (23.3 percent) over Quade Meyer’s 265 votes (22.9 percent). James Kraskey placed fourth with 138 votes (11.9 percent), and Myrtle C. Kohnen placed fifth with 88 votes (7.6 percent). There were 5 write-ins.

Tomperi said, “I would like to thank the voters of Menahga for the opportunity to serve the community on the city council. My goal is to work with a unified council and mayor to make our city government a functional and responsive body addressing the needs of its citizens, while being fiscally responsible, business friendly and forward looking.”

Other city elections

In Akeley, Mayor Brian Hitchcock was re-elected over challenger Dale Nelson, 136-80. Bobbie Wosika defeated Kristin Fake for a seat on the city council, 164-43, with 2 write-ins. In a special election for another council seat, Nathan Allen George defeated Mark Hood, 119-75, with 1 write-in.

Laporte voters elected Patricia Gendron as mayor with 54 votes to 7 write-ins. With four candidates running for two seats on the city council, winners were Justin Lindahl with 42 votes (32.3 percent) and Dwight Powell with 39 votes (30 percent). Tim Formo was edged out with 36 votes (27.7 percent), while Jeff P. Waller took 12 votes (9.2 percent) and there was 1 write-in.

In Wolf Lake, there were 16 write-in votes for mayor and 19 for a city council member.

1/2: Marie Nordberg has been an election judge for four years. She served at Park Rapids City Hall Tuesday. (Shannon Geisen/Enterprise)

2/2: Jessi Vankempen, with daughter Mabel, approaches Park Rapids City Hall to vote in the election at about 8:30 a.m. Tuesday. (Robin Fish/Enterprise)