The short version.
Minnesota files county candidates locally: every county office is filed with the County Auditor, not the Secretary of State (Minn. Stat. §204B.09, subd. 1). Most counties have combined the Auditor and Treasurer offices into a single Auditor-Treasurer, and a few of those combined offices are appointed rather than elected — your county auditor's office can tell you exactly which seats are elected on your county's 2026 ballot.
Getting on the ballot is a single, statewide process: file an affidavit of candidacy and either pay a flat $50 fee or submit a petition signed by at least 500 people instead (Minn. Stat. §204B.11). There is no party primary to win first — Minnesota's county offices are nonpartisan, and the state does not register voters by party at all.
This page covers that for Mower County and points you at your local election office for anything specific to your county. It is not legal advice; the official rules live with your election office and the Minnesota Secretary of State.
Mower County by the numbers.
- In 2024, Mower County cast 18,926 votes for president: 54.4% Republican, 43.9% Democratic.
The campaigns that win the field are the ones who start building their list of supporters and volunteers before qualifying even opens, not after. Motion51 is ready to load your Mower County voter file the moment you send it over, so you can start finding your people now.
Key Minnesota dates.
Still open for the November 3, 2026 ballot
Minnesota's whole ballot-access window for county office was two weeks in the spring and it closed on June 2. There is no late petition and no independent route back on. What is open is a write-in request, and it is worth more than it sounds.
- Now to Thu Oct 15, 2026, 5:00 p.m. WRITE-IN REQUEST for a county office. File a written request with your county auditor so write-in votes cast for you are counted separately and credited by name (Minn. Stat. 204B.09, subd. 3(a), the 19th day before the election). No fee. Without it your votes disappear into an undifferentiated write-in total and you can win the votes and lose the office.
- No filing needed For township, school district, hospital, park and soil and water district offices, write-in votes are individually recorded with no request at all, unless that governing body adopted a resolution before filing opened (Minn. Stat. 204B.09, subd. 3(b), (c)).
- Tue Jun 2, 2026, 5:00 p.m. Affidavit of candidacy and $50 fee for county office -- CLOSED. The 500-signature petition is not a separate route; it only replaces the fee and had to be filed in this same window (Minn. Stat. 204B.09, subd. 1).
County filings go to the COUNTY AUDITOR, not the Secretary of State, and the affidavit must be signed in front of a notarial officer. Mailing an unnotarized affidavit on the last day is a missed deadline.
2027 is a city and school year; 2028 brings back half the county board
Minnesota county offices never appear in an odd year. And in 2028 only some of them return: Minn. Stat. 382.01 puts auditor, treasurer, sheriff, recorder, county attorney and coroner on a four-year cycle that runs 2026 and 2030, so 2028 is a commissioner year plus whatever your county has consolidated or made appointive.
- Tue Aug 10 and Tue Nov 2, 2027 2027 city and school district primary and general election days, published by the Secretary of State. Township elections are March 9, 2027.
- Tue May 18 to Tue Jun 1, 2027 COMPUTED city filing window where the city holds a primary; where it does not, COMPUTED as Tue Jul 13 to Tue Jul 27, 2027 (Minn. Stat. 205.13, subd. 1a). Your city or school district clerk must publish the actual dates at least two weeks before filing opens.
- Tue May 16 to Tue May 30, 2028, 5:00 p.m. COMPUTED affidavit-of-candidacy window for county office: not more than 84 nor less than 70 days before the state primary (Minn. Stat. 204B.09, subd. 1(a)).
- Tue Aug 8, 2028 2028 state primary, published.
- Thu Oct 19, 2028, 5:00 p.m. COMPUTED write-in request deadline for county office (Minn. Stat. 204B.09, subd. 3(a)).
- Tue Nov 7, 2028 2028 general election, published.
Commissioner districts are staggered county by county, and the Secretary of State deliberately does not publish which seats are up where. Ask your county auditor which offices will be on the ballot before you plan anything.
The 2026 dates and the 2027/2028 election days come from the Minnesota Secretary of State's own candidate pages and elections calendar, read on 2026-08-20. Filing windows for 2027 and 2028 are not published yet and are arithmetic from Minn. Stat. ch. 204B and 205; the same arithmetic reproduces the published 2026 window exactly. Confirm with your county auditor.
Offices on the ballot in Mower County.
These are the county offices Minnesota elects on four-year terms landing on the 2026 cycle (Minn. Stat. §§375.01, 382.01):
- County Commissioner — five seats on the county board, seven in Anoka, Hennepin, Ramsey and St. Louis Counties (Minn. Stat. §375.01)
- County Auditor, or the combined County Auditor-Treasurer in counties that have merged the two offices
- County Treasurer, where not combined with the Auditor
- County Recorder
- County Sheriff — candidates must be a licensed Minnesota peace officer
- County Attorney — candidates must be licensed to practice law in Minnesota
A county may combine the Auditor and Treasurer into one Auditor-Treasurer office, and in some counties that combined office has been made appointive rather than elected (Minn. Stat. §§375A.10, subd. 2(c), 375A.12, 375A.1205). Not every county elects every office on this list separately — your county auditor can tell you exactly which seats are on your county's 2026 ballot.
How to get on the ballot.
Every Minnesota county office follows the same statewide path onto the ballot: no party primary to win, no percentage-of-salary fee formula, just one filing window and a flat fee or a petition.
File between May 19 and June 2, 2026.
File an affidavit of candidacy with your county auditor any time from May 19, 2026 through 5:00 p.m. on June 2, 2026 (Minn. Stat. §204B.09, subd. 1). County offices are nonpartisan, so there is no party nomination step — your name goes straight toward the November ballot, or to an August primary first only if your county auditor determines the race is contested enough to need one.
- The filing fee is a flat $50 for any county office, paid to the county auditor (Minn. Stat. §204B.11, subd. 1).
- Instead of the fee, you may file a nominating petition signed by at least 500 people (Minn. Stat. §204B.11, subd. 2).
- You must be an eligible Minnesota voter, at least 21 by the time you take office, and a resident of the district for 30 days before the general election (Minn. Stat. §204B.06).
County Sheriff candidates must be a licensed Minnesota peace officer, and County Attorney candidates must be licensed to practice law in Minnesota — both must submit proof with their affidavit (Minn. Stat. §204B.06, subd. 8).
Statutory references: Minn. Stat. §204B.09, subd. 1 (candidate filing period and where to file) · Minn. Stat. §204B.11, subd. 1 (filing fees; $50 for county office) · Minn. Stat. §204B.11, subd. 2 (petition in place of filing fee; 500 signatures for county office) · Minn. Stat. §204B.06 (affidavit of candidacy; qualifications; nonpartisan county offices) · Minn. Stat. §375.01 (county board; number of commissioners; term) · Minn. Stat. §382.01 (auditor, treasurer, sheriff, recorder, attorney; four-year terms) · Minn. Stat. §375A.10, subd. 2(c) (county option to combine auditor and treasurer) · Minn. Stat. §§375A.12, 375A.1205 (combined auditor-treasurer office made appointive) · Minn. Stat. §204D.03 (state primary; second Tuesday in August). Fees and signature counts change; confirm before you file.
The Mower County election office.
Your county auditor is the filing officer for every county office in Minnesota — the office that takes your affidavit of candidacy and fee (or petition), and can tell you exactly which seats and offices share your county's 2026 ballot.
- Office
- 201 1st Street NE Ste 7, Austin, MN 55912
- Phone
- 507-434-2614
- [email protected]
Contact details verified 2026-08-13. Official statewide sources: Minnesota Secretary of State: Filing for County Offices · Minnesota Secretary of State: Find Your County Election Office.
Common questions.
When is the filing deadline to run for county office in Mower County?
Minnesota runs one statewide filing window for every county office: May 19, 2026 through June 2, 2026 at 5:00 p.m. You file with the Mower County Auditor, not the Secretary of State (Minn. Stat. §204B.09, subd. 1).
How much does it cost to run for county office in Mower County?
The filing fee for a county office is $50, paid to the Mower County Auditor when you file your affidavit of candidacy (Minn. Stat. §204B.11, subd. 1). Instead of paying the fee, you can file a nominating petition signed by at least 500 people (Minn. Stat. §204B.11, subd. 2).
Are county races in Minnesota partisan?
No. County offices are nonpartisan under Minnesota law — candidates do not run as a party's nominee and the affidavit of candidacy does not carry a party designation (Minn. Stat. §204B.06). Minnesota also does not register voters by party, so there is no party-registration breakdown to show for Mower County.
Which county offices are on the ballot in Mower County in 2026?
County Commissioner (Minn. Stat. §375.01) and the county row offices — Auditor, Treasurer, Recorder, Sheriff and Attorney (Minn. Stat. §382.01) — all sit on four-year terms that land on 2026. Some counties have combined the Auditor and Treasurer into a single Auditor-Treasurer office, and in a few of those counties that combined office is appointed rather than elected (Minn. Stat. §§375A.10, 375A.12). Confirm which seats are actually on your county's 2026 ballot with the Mower County Auditor.
After you qualify: the field operation.
Minnesota's filing process is a single statewide window, and it is the easy part. What decides a county race is the work on either side of it: knowing which precincts turn out, lining up enough volunteers to cover them, and knocking doors in an order that makes sense before the November general -- or the August primary, if your race draws one.
That is the part Motion51 was built for. You scope your district, cut turf, and send volunteers out with a phone instead of a clipboard. It works offline, so canvassing does not stop where the cell signal does, and every door is logged with a timestamp for your records. Our For Candidates page walks through what that looks like.
Counties next to Mower.
Running in a district that crosses a county line? Each of these has its own guide.