Beaver Bay opens filing window for special city election

Beaver Bay opened a two-week filing window for a special city election, giving residents a set deadline and a fixed place to turn in paperwork for a two-year term on the ballot. City Clerk Clayton Alborn signed the notice, which lists the filing site as the City Clerk’s office at 711 MacDonald Ave. in Beaver Bay and says filings close July 28, 2026, at 5 p.m.

The city’s clerk hours were posted for July 14, 15, 16, 20, 21, 22, 23, 27 and 28, the dates candidates need to watch if they want their names in the race. Beaver Bay’s city office also lists a phone number, 218-226-3251, for people who need to confirm hours or ask about the filing location at 711 MacDonald Ave.

The election matters because it is the first formal step in choosing who will help steer Beaver Bay’s day-to-day decisions later in the year. In a small Lake County city, a special election for even one seat can influence how officials handle budgets, public works, ordinances, and the local services residents rely on most. Missing the July 28 deadline would keep a candidate off the ballot, which can leave voters with fewer choices and can leave local races uncontested.

Minnesota election guidance says special elections are used to fill vacant offices and can be scheduled at different times during the year. State guidance also says cities where a primary is not held file for city office from July 14, 2026, until July 28, 2026, at 5 p.m., matching Beaver Bay’s notice. Under Minnesota Statutes section 412.02, statutory-city vacancies can be filled by council appointment until an election is held, and a special election may not be required if less than two years remain in the unexpired term.

That legal backdrop fits Beaver Bay’s recent political turnover. Mayor Marcus Huss was appointed June 16, 2025, to serve the remainder of a two-year term ending December 31, 2026, and Council Member Andy Kosevich was appointed April 21, 2025, to fill the remainder of a four-year term ending the same day. In June 2025, the city selected Huss as mayor after a procedural issue involving the prior mayor’s election, and former mayor Tom Gmach resigned in connection with that process issue.

For Beaver Bay, the filing window now underway is the point where the next round of city leadership starts to take shape. Once it closes at 5 p.m. on July 28, the ballot picture for the special election will be set.