Fargo mayoral race to replace Walaker expected to be a busy one

FARGO – The special mayoral election coming up in a few months could turn out to be a busy one with more than just the mayor’s seat up for grabs.

Deputy Mayor Tim Mahoney, who became the interim mayor after the death of Mayor Dennis Walaker last week, said he plans to run.

Another member of the City Commission, Dave Piepkorn, said he’s also thinking about running.

If they do, the city’s home-rule charter requires them to resign, which means their seats will be up for grabs.

Former Commissioner Brad Wimmer, who ran against Walaker in June, said he’s thinking about running for mayor, too.

Commissioners met Monday night for the first time since Walaker’s death during treatment for kidney cancer. His chair was left vacant Monday night but for the bright yellow parka he wore during flood fights, a testament to his leadership during many major floods.

Commissioners indicated they still have a lot of questions about how the special election will proceed and decided to wait until their next meeting on Dec. 22 to decide. In the meantime, City Attorney Erik Johnson will research any questions they have.

Timing of election

If commissioners had decided on a date Monday night, the earliest the election could be held is March 12, Johnson told them. State law requires candidates to file 64 days before the election and the city must advertise that there are vacant offices to be filled 30 days before that, he said.

The cost of the special election is in the $22,000 to $25,000 range, depending on the number of polling sites, said City Auditor Steve Sprague. Opening polls for early voting would cost $1,500 a day.

The fact that commissioners must to resign to run for mayor brought with it additional complications.

Because terms are staggered to avoid having the entire commission up for election at once, the time remaining in commissioners’ terms differ. Those elected in June, like Mahoney and Piepkorn, would have three years left at election time. Those voted in 2012, like Mike Williams and Melissa Sobolik, would have one.

Williams said he doubts anyone would want to run for a seat with just a year left in the term.

Mahoney suggested the candidate with the most votes gets the longest term and the second-place candidate get the one year.

Luckily, commissioners running for mayor won’t need to resign right away. Johnson said they resign two weeks after the election, when new commissioners can take office.

Candidates

Because of term limits, this term would have been Walaker’s last.

Mahoney, who filled in for the mayor during Walaker’s treatment, said he thought he would run after Walaker was done. “I was planning to run for mayor at some point. Now I’m running sooner than I expected.”

Wimmer said he’s still talking with friends and family about running again. “If I make a decision, it’ll be sooner rather than later.”

Still, he already knows his campaign would be about working closer with Fargo’s neighbors and about government transparency.

Piepkorn said he won’t decide until he knows when the election will occur. Though he’d have to step down after having just regained his seat – he lost to Sobolik in 2012 – he said he’s fine with it. “If you’re going to run for something, you don't have a fallback position. I like that you have to be all in.”

Asked if they were thinking of running, Williams said it’s too soon after Walaker’s death for him to talk of running and Sobolik said she’s definitely not running.

1/3: Fargo City Commissioner Dave Piepkorn says he's thinking about running for mayor.

2/3: Fargo City Commissioner Mike Williams says he's thinking about running for mayor.

3/3: Brad Wimmer is thinking about running for Fargo mayor.