Voters in Houston County will have plenty of candidates to choose from in the primary race for county commissioners.

Two of the three current commissioners n Ann Thompson and Larry Graf n are retiring after 16 years in office, and 13 candidates have announced intentions to run for seats in three districts.

Graf and Thompson say so many candidates for so few seats is nothing unusual in politically active Houston County.

“I think people think it’s prestigious,” Graf, commissioner in the 1st District covering La Crescent, said. “I don’t find it surprising (that so many people are running). I was hoping for five or six (in my district).”

His business, Graf Insurance, grew dramatically in the past few years, and Graf said he is needed there.

“I can’t do both and justify both,” he said. “Many weeks there are 30 to 40 hours where I’m doing commissioner work.”

He said the position is getting to be more time consuming because of increasing public demands.

Thompson, 3rd District commissioner who represents Caledonia, said when she filed to run four years ago, she decided it would be her final term.

“It’s a good time to stop,” she said. “I wish the next person luck.”

The number of commissioners will be narrowed to two from each district after Minnesota’s primary election Sept. 9.

At a glance

List of candidates running for commissioner seats in three districts in Houston County:

1st district (La Crescent)

Gregory A. Husmann

Greg Husmann is the transportation supervisor for the Minnesota Dept. of Transportation and a current La Crescent city councilman. He’s running because he thinks he can make a contribution to the county, and can represent La Crescent, the district, and the county very well.

John E. Meyer

Meyer has lived in La Crescent for 31 years and also has been a firefighter for 26 years with the La Crescent Fire Department, and in the past, served as a member of the La Crescent Planning Commission. His political views are conservative, and he believes in living within your means. He feels his experience in emergency services is valuable in continuing with the disaster preparedness plan in Houston County.

Jack Miller

Jack Miller, a former three-term mayor of La Crescent, said his focus would be on ensuring the district receives a commensurate share of attention and revenue from the county. He further said the La Crescent area is much more urbanized than many areas of the county and therefore has different issues to be addressed. Miller received his bachelor and master degrees from UW-La Crosse and spent 10 years as a Viterbo College administrator.

Robert Reider

Reider is a retired chief deputy of the Houston County Sheriff’s Office. This experience of having worked in and around jails gives him insight on the building of a new jail, he said. Because he has worked with the county’s budgets in the past, he says he already knows the budget process and can ‘hit the ground running’ upon taking office. He is a La Crescent graduate, attended four years at Winona State University.

3rd district (Caledonia)

Robert Augedahl

Neil Goetzinger

Bradley D. Kind

Richard Kleist

Loren Lapham

Joe Welch

5th district (Spring Grove)

Tom Bjerke (incumbent)

Brad Hernandez

Brent Newgaard