Bloomington school board chair to run for open Senate District 50 seat

Melissa Halvorson Wiklund

Melissa Halvorson Wiklund has announced she’s seeking the DFL endorsement for the open state Senate seat that includes parts of Richfield, Bloomington and a sliver of Minneapolis. She’s currently the chair of the Bloomington school board.

A panel of judges charged with rewriting Minnesota’s political boundaries created the new Senate District 50 that doesn’t include any currently sitting senators.

Still, Halvorson Wiklund will need to compete for the party’s nod. Roughly half of District 50 is currently represented by Sen. Ken Kelash, DFL-Minneapolis. But Kelash has been redistricted into the new Senate District 61 that is mostly the turf of fellow DFL Sen. Scott Dibble of Minneapolis. Kelash told PIM he plans to move into District 50 and seek re-election to the Senate rather than challenge Dibble.