Councilman Won’t Seek Another Term

Voters in the City of St. Paul will have one less race to weigh in on when they travel to the ballot box this November.

Monday night, during the St. Paul City Council’s first meeting of the month of June, members of the council heard a report from one of the municipality’s sitting councilmembers concerning his decision to not seek another term in office.

During the reports portion of the meeting, which came on the tail end of the council’s nearly two-hour gathering earlier this week, St. Paul City Councilmember Jerry Thompson announced that he had decided against standing for election for another four-year term on the council.

“A lot of you know that last January I took over as union president for [IBEW 1597 Union], and I have been putting it off long enough, so I would like to announce that I am withdrawing from the election,” Thompson said. “I am going to pass the torch on to Bill.”

Earlier this year, Thompson had filed as an incumbent for another term on the council, and, on Monday night, Thompson and the council believed that his name would still appear on the ballot, creating a unique situation. “If I am elected, I am

“If I am elected, I am not going to accept it,” Thompson said.

However, on Tuesday, Howard County Election Commissioner Shawn Burkhardt confirmed to the Phonograph-Herald that, if Thompson wished to have his name taken out of consideration, and therefore removed from the ballot, he could do so by filing an Declination of Nomination form by August 1st.

As of Tuesday, Burkhardt said that no such form had been filed by Thompson with her office.

In the wake of Thompson’s announcement Monday night, the council chamber was filled with jokes concerning the fact that Thompson’s decision not to seek another term had paved the way for one of the only other candidates for the two contested seats to be elected without opposition.

In addition to sitting City Councilmember Katie Kowalski, Bill Peters had filed seeking a seat on the council. Peters, who was in attendance at the meeting Monday night, quipped that Thompson’s news was disheartening.

“I was looking for a battle, but I guess…,” joked Peters.

T h o m p s o n ’ s announcement comes following the councilmember’s first term on the council. Thompson, along with Councilmember Kowalski, was first elected to the city council in November 2018. At that time, he and Kowalski had bested two others for their seats—Dave Snow and Mike Feeken—in a tight race. Feeken would later win a seat on the council in 2020.