Orono voters picked Jon Schwingler as their new City Council member in a special election Tuesday.
Schwingler will replace Claire Berrett, who was controversially appointed by former Mayor Dennis Walsh to finish the term of a council member who resigned after November’s election shook up city leadership.
Walsh unsuccessfully sued after the city passed an ordinance and called the special election for Berrett’s seat. He argued her term should have ended in November 2026.
Last week, the Supreme Court affirmed a lower-court opinion, allowing Tuesday’s election to take place.
Orono has been plagued by controversy over a decision to form its own fire department separate from Long Lake. In an attempt to end the feud, the cities reached a tentative deal in April to combine their departments.
Voters chose Schwingler, who has served on the city’s planning commission, from a field of five candidates. Schwingler received more than 40% of the 857 votes Tuesday. He beat the nearest challenger, landscape architect Bruce Lemke, by two dozen votes.
Schwingler told the Minnesota Star Tribune he was running to continue momentum since November’s election. He said he didn’t support the idea of a separate Orono fire department. He has said there was a lack of transparency about the public works facility’s construction. He was the only candidate to have filed a campaign finance report for the special election.
