KAXE contacted every candidate twice using contact information submitted to the Secretary of State's Office to invite them to participate in our Election Guide.
Candidate responses have not been edited and are published as submitted.
As necessary, our news team added contextual information clearly marked with an "editor's note" and in italics, though responses have not been uniformly fact-checked. With our small team of three, we are unable to proactively fact check every statement made by candidates. But we will make every effort to make note of inaccuracies if they come to our attention.
Please contact our news team at news@kaxe.org with questions or comments or to report any errors.
KAXE's Election Guide only includes candidates in contested races. Visit our full list of who's running for office in Northern Minnesota to see who else is on the ballot.
Charles Cook
Incumbent: No
Age on Election Day: 69
Where are you currently employed, and what is your role?
Retried
Please share any prior experience that you believe qualifies you for office.
I have many years of voluntary work for the community and the people of Crystal Bay and Finland MN. I understand the different problems our community is facing and I'm willing to put in the effort to keep Crystal Bay a great township.
Please describe the roles and responsibilities of the office you are running for.
Overseeing the problems of the township budgets and that we keep up our maintains of the township. Keep looking into housing issues we have in the area. Expanding on new ideas to revive our community, keep looking into the growth of our township is ongoing.
Why are you running for office?
I have many years of service in this township, and I think I have a lot more to put in to keep it a great place to live.
What are your priorities, if elected? Please describe specific policy goals.
First would be getting a handle on budget, understanding our building policies and what we cover. What does this township really need and what it does not need.
What effective policies will you support that will prepare your township now, next year and in the future to improve resiliency against climate change?
I think anything with in our township that we can do to help our environment I support, and we all should look into existing and new ways to make our township and our state a better place.
High taxation is a concern for many Northern Minnesotans. Please share any specific opinions you hold related to taxation, and how you plan to ensure tax dollars are used efficiently and effectively.
That is a hard one to answer but it all starts with our own township with everyone's wants and what we can afford the more we want the more we have to raise our taxes that's why I say it starts here we need a handle on our expense to see what we can reduce to lower our taxes first and then look outside to see what help there is that we can use.
How do you plan to improve transparency and trust in government?
I will always be available to the people in our township and anyone outside our township to answer questions and if i can't answer it i will find it.
Michael Nikula
Incumbent: Yes
KAXE did not receive a response from this candidate.
Still have questions for the candidates? Contact information for all those who've filed to run for office can be found at candidates.sos.state.mn.us.
