Crosby's November 3 ballot, and what it decides for the city's money

Diane L. Cash

• Filed for re-election in the July 14 to 28, 2026 window, and won the 2024 mayoral race by 15 votes (KAXE candidate tracking).

Record in office. Budget, levy, fee, ordinance and major project actions, in date order. Hiring and personnel votes are left out. Cash held the seat for each action below. The minutes summaries used here record the council action but not an individual roll call, so her own vote on each is (unverified).

• February 26, 2024: the council adopted two Public Facilities Authority resolutions, applying to the Clean Water Revolving Fund (2024-07-0226) and the Drinking Water Revolving Fund (2024-08-0226) for the First and Second Street alley sewer and water improvements (city council minutes archive).
• August 26, 2024: the council accepted a $50,000 Sourcewell Public Safety Matching Grant, with a 25% match required, for Fire Hall floor drain and grate repairs, a $77,964.45 project funded $50,000 by Sourcewell and $27,964.45 from fire department donation funds (city council minutes archive).
• September 23, 2024: the council adopted Resolution 2024-22-0923, the 2025 preliminary levy, a 7.5% increase (city council minutes archive).
• December 23, 2024: the council held public hearings and adopted the natural gas franchise ordinance (24-06) and the cannabis business regulations ordinance (24-07), along with a cannabis zoning amendment (city council minutes archive).
• December 30, 2024, special meeting: the council adopted the 2025 fee schedule, raising the water base fee from $10 to $14 a month and the sewer base fee from $7 to $10.25 a month (city council minutes archive).
• December 8, 2025: the council adopted the resolution setting the final 2026 levy of $1,818,813, made up of $1,458,813 general fund, $220,000 capital, $120,000 library and $20,000 Hallett Community Center (minutes, December 8, 2025).
• January 26, 2026: the council authorized the 2026A equipment certificates, after months of debate over an $830,000 fire truck (city council minutes archive).

No published platform as of September 2026.

Ron Prushek

• Filed for mayor in the July 14 to 28, 2026 window (KAXE candidate tracking).

Prior Crosby council service, including a period as acting mayor, appears in county officer records and Brainerd Dispatch archives (unverified).

No published platform as of September 2026.

Jim Traylor

• Filed for re-election in the July 14 to 28, 2026 window (KAXE candidate tracking).

Record in office. Budget, levy, fee, ordinance and major project actions, in date order. Hiring and personnel votes are left out. Traylor held a council seat for each action below. The minutes summaries used here record the council action but not an individual roll call, so his own vote on each is (unverified).

• February 26, 2024: the council adopted two Public Facilities Authority resolutions, applying to the Clean Water Revolving Fund (2024-07-0226) and the Drinking Water Revolving Fund (2024-08-0226) for the First and Second Street alley sewer and water improvements (city council minutes archive).
• August 26, 2024: the council accepted a $50,000 Sourcewell Public Safety Matching Grant, with a 25% match required, for Fire Hall floor drain and grate repairs, a $77,964.45 project funded $50,000 by Sourcewell and $27,964.45 from fire department donation funds (city council minutes archive).
• September 23, 2024: the council adopted Resolution 2024-22-0923, the 2025 preliminary levy, a 7.5% increase (city council minutes archive).
• December 23, 2024: the council held public hearings and adopted the natural gas franchise ordinance (24-06) and the cannabis business regulations ordinance (24-07), along with a cannabis zoning amendment (city council minutes archive).
• December 30, 2024, special meeting: the council adopted the 2025 fee schedule, raising the water base fee from $10 to $14 a month and the sewer base fee from $7 to $10.25 a month (city council minutes archive).
• December 8, 2025: the council adopted the resolution setting the final 2026 levy of $1,818,813 (minutes, December 8, 2025).
• January 26, 2026: the council authorized the 2026A equipment certificates, after months of debate over an $830,000 fire truck (city council minutes archive).

No published platform as of September 2026.

Adam Cash

• Filed for one of the two council seats in the July 14 to 28, 2026 window (KAXE candidate tracking).

Also ran for council in 2024, per Ballotpedia candidate pages (unverified).

No published platform as of September 2026.

Joanna Lattery

• Filed for one of the two council seats in the July 14 to 28, 2026 window (KAXE candidate tracking).

Ran for council in 2024 and previously filled an unexpired council term, per Ballotpedia candidate pages (unverified).

No published platform as of September 2026.

Troy Patrick

• Filed for one of the two council seats in the July 14 to 28, 2026 window (KAXE candidate tracking).

No prior public record was found for this candidate.

No published platform as of September 2026.

Dale Sova

• Filed for one of the two council seats in the July 14 to 28, 2026 window (KAXE candidate tracking).

A past Crosby officeholder and mayoral candidate, per Brainerd Dispatch archives (unverified).

No published platform as of September 2026.

Keri Heintzeman

• Won the April 29, 2025 special election for the seat, called after the previous senator resigned, and is on the ballot for a full term (KAXE candidate tracking; the city's April 14, 2025 council packet names the April 29, 2025 special election, city council packets and minutes).
• Campaigns on a theme of "Faith, Family, and Freedom" and a stated commitment to "Conservative Christian Values" (heintzemanforsenate.com).
• Says that "as a pro-life advocate, she will defend the rights of the unborn and work to promote a culture that respects life at all stages," paired with support for mothers facing unplanned pregnancies (heintzemanforsenate.com).
• Says "families should have a decisive voice in their children's education, health, and well-being" (heintzemanforsenate.com).
• Says she wants "woke policies" out of schools, supports performance pay for teachers, and plans legislation to deregulate home-based childcare, reported by KAXE, article not yet linked here (unverified) (KAXE elections coverage).

No published position on Local Government Aid, property taxes, or girls' sports and gender policy as of September 2026.

Denise Slipy

• Environmental health and safety professional with 30 years as a volunteer firefighter, first responder and reserve police officer, running in a rematch of the April 29, 2025 special election, which Heintzeman won 60 to 40 (KAXE candidate tracking).
• Campaigns on economic development, education and pay equity, and proposes tax incentives for businesses that provide childcare facilities (slipy4senate.com).
• Also proposes healthcare co-ops, systems reform in welfare, housing and healthcare, and environmental protection (slipy4senate.com).

No published position on Local Government Aid or property taxes as of September 2026. No published position on abortion, parental rights, gender policy or religious liberty as of September 2026.

Ben Davis

• Introduced HF4094 in March 2026, the bill that would have authorized Crosby's half-cent local sales tax. It was referred to the House Taxes Committee and had no recorded action after that (Minnesota Legislature, HF4094).
• Lists his occupation as pastor on his House member profile (Minnesota House member profile). That he pastors a nondenominational church in Brainerd and spent 12 years at Minnesota Adult and Teen Challenge is not stated there (unverified).
• Says "the government shut down our churches" and defends the "freedom to worship God according to the dictates of our own conscience" (bendavismn.com).
• Says "an estimated 65 million lives have been terminated before they even had the opportunity to breathe air," and pledges to be a voice for the unborn, including children with Down syndrome (bendavismn.com).
• Says "your medical freedom and parental rights I will always defend," and has criticized the 2023 law making Minnesota a refuge for gender-affirming care (bendavismn.com).
• Publicized his caucus's March 2025 release on House Democrats voting down the Preserving Girls' Sports Act, and applauded an August 2025 court ruling he described as protecting religious freedom in education, in House releases not yet linked here (unverified) (Minnesota House member profile).

No published position on Local Government Aid levels, or on paid leave and the child tax credit, as of September 2026.

Samuel Grigsby

• Works in hospital and clinic security and serves in the Grand Rapids police reserves, after more than 30 years in public-sector roles as an emergency medical technician, firefighter and state fire instructor (KAXE candidate tracking).
• Is endorsed by the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party and by Education Minnesota, the teachers' union (see the endorsements table).

No published position on Local Government Aid or property taxes as of September 2026. No published position on abortion, parental rights and school choice, girls' sports and gender policy, paid leave and the child tax credit, or religious liberty as of September 2026.

Lisa Demuth and Ryan Wilson

• At the Coalition of Greater Minnesota Cities conference in New Ulm on July 24, 2026, she expressed support for increasing Local Government Aid payments, saying "we know that is an important piece for you to do what you can and try to keep property taxes down." She declined to promise property tax elimination, calling levels a matter of local control (New Ulm Journal).
• Her affordability agenda, released August 25, 2026, centers on tax cuts and about $1 billion in agency savings, and proposes a further $150 million in property tax relief. It does not mention Local Government Aid (KTTC).
• Is a longtime opponent of abortion and has backed fetal-heartbeat legislation (Wikipedia).
• Sponsored 2025 legislation creating an Education Savings Account program for eligible students from low-income households, advocates refocusing schools on "core subjects like reading, math, writing, and science," and opposes what she calls "woke" gender and racial ideology in schools (Wikipedia).
• Says that as governor she would not repeal the paid family and medical leave program that launched in January 2026, but would change it to make it more workable. Her House caucus advanced 2025 bills to delay or repeal the program (source not yet located; unverified).
• As Speaker during the 2026 session, presided over a session that produced a $125 million one-time property tax refund increase and a bonding bill of about $1.24 billion, with Local Government Aid unchanged (League of Minnesota Cities).

No published position on girls' sports and gender policy, including youth gender medicine, or on religious liberty, as of September 2026.

Amy Klobuchar and Ben Schierer

• Her campaign priorities page covers lower costs, government accountability and fraud, workforce, the rural and agricultural economy, and conservation. It contains no language on Local Government Aid, aid to cities, or property taxes (amyklobuchar.com).
• At an August 6, 2026 Farmfest candidate forum, a reporter paraphrased her as wanting to fix cost-shift burdens on counties and to make sure counties received local government aid and property tax credits. That is a paraphrase rather than a quote, and it blends city aid with county aid, so the aid-specific content is (unverified) (Marshall Independent).
• Supports codifying the protections of Roe v. Wade, per a CBS News voter guide from her 2024 Senate race that is not yet linked here (unverified) (Ballotpedia race page).
• Voted no on the March 3, 2025 cloture motion on S.9, the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act, which failed 51 to 45 (U.S. Senate roll call vote 100, March 3, 2025).
• Pledges to expand access to child care through partnerships, and campaigns on housing supply, prescription drug costs, apprenticeships and reading and math curriculum. Her priorities page does not mention abortion, paid leave or gender policy (amyklobuchar.com).
• Her running mate, Ben Schierer, is a former mayor of Fergus Falls and a former board member of the Coalition of Greater Minnesota Cities, whose top program priority is Local Government Aid. He held a town hall at the coalition's July 2026 conference, and no published account of his remarks was found (unverified) (New Ulm Journal).

No published position on private-school choice or religious liberty as of September 2026.

Peggy Flanagan

• Says "your right to choose if and when to have a child should not be determined by where you live," supports the Women's Health Protection Act, and opposes efforts to defund Planned Parenthood (peggyflanagan.com).
• Has said parents must believe their children when they "tell us who they are," and describes gender-affirming care as life-affirming and life-saving, in press coverage not yet linked here (unverified) (see the endorsements table).
• Championed Minnesota's 2023 child tax credit of up to $1,750 per child, paid family leave and free school meals, and backs expanding the federal child tax credit, national paid leave, universal childcare and universal pre-kindergarten (peggyflanagan.com).

No published position on private-school choice or religious liberty as of September 2026.

Marisa Simonetti

• Campaigns on housing affordability, community safety, and what she describes as balancing social progress with fiscal responsibility (KAXE candidate tracking).

No published position on abortion, parental rights and school choice, girls' sports and gender policy, paid leave and the child tax credit, or religious liberty as of September 2026.

Michele Tafoya

Her campaign site blocked automated access, so these positions come from press coverage rather than her own site, and the specific articles are not yet linked here (unverified).

• Describes herself as "pro-choice to a point," supports what she calls reasonable access in the first 12 weeks, opposes restricting in-vitro fertilization, and calls Minnesota's law without a gestational limit "extreme" and "barbaric," per reporting by NOTUS, WDAY and localcandidates.org (unverified) (source list).
• Has made opposition to transgender women competing in women's sports a signature issue, per Star Tribune coverage (unverified) (source list).
• Lists stronger schools and parents' rights as a priority and pledges education reform that restores parents' say and increases transparency and accountability, per press coverage (unverified) (source list).

No published position on paid leave, the child tax credit or religious liberty as of September 2026.

Rebecca Whiting

• Is an Army veteran who served as a combat medic in Iraq and homeschools her children on a small northern Minnesota farm, and has run a minimal campaign (KAXE candidate tracking).

No published position as of September 2026.

Pete Stauber

• Voted for H.R. 28, the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act, which passed the House on January 14, 2025, saying "as the father of two girls, I will not allow female athletes to be forced to compete against biological men" (stauber.house.gov).
• Voted for the 2025 reconciliation bill, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which included the Educational Choice for Children Act's federal scholarship tax credit (stauber.house.gov).
• Sought a floor vote on the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act in 2019 and voted against the Women's Health Protection Act in 2021 (stauber.house.gov).

No published position on paid leave, the child tax credit or religious liberty as of September 2026.

Trina Swanson

• Is an attorney who spent about 20 years at U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services and resigned in 2025 over directives she said she believed were unethical (KAXE candidate tracking).
• Campaigns on affordability in healthcare, housing and energy, on mining, trades and shipping jobs, on safe neighborhoods and strong schools, and supports universal healthcare and federal funding for childcare, schools and hospitals (KAXE candidate tracking).

No published position on abortion, gender policy or religious liberty as of September 2026.