Three file for Benson council seat special election

By Reed Anfinson

Publisher

Nancy Maanum, Mike “Nick” Nicholas, and Brent Haugen have filed for the city council seat vacated when Council Member Jack Evenson was elected mayor last November.

Evenson completed two years of his four-year term as a council member before taking his oath as mayor for the next two years at the council’s Jan. 3 meeting.

Filings for Evenson’s seat started Tuesday, Jan. 10, and closed Tuesday, Jan. 24, at 5 p.m. The special election takes place Tuesday, April 11, with the new council member starting his or her term with the council’s April 17 meeting. The person’s term will run through Dec. 31, 2024.

To fill the council vacancy until a new council member is seated, former council member and mayor Gary Landmark was appointed to the council. Landmark served as mayor from 2015 to 2017. Prior to that, he served on the council for 24 years, from 1989 to 2013.

Evenson is the longest-serving member of the Benson council. He was elected to his first four-year term in 2013 and re-elected in 2017. He won election again in November 2021 to a shortened three-year term as the city restructured its elections from odd years to even years to coincide with the general elections for state and federal offices.

Current members of council are Dan Enderson, Chris Carruth, Mark Schreck, and Landmark.