Three candidates will take on incumbent St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman as he seeks a third term in the Nov. 5 election.

The other mayoral candidates are Sharon Anderson, Kurt Dornfeld and Tim Holden.

Anderson is referred to as the “ballot-friendly” name because she has been running for political office for decades but has never held a major political office. She plans to lobby for legalizing marijuana and prostitution.

Anderson, who lists several of her qualifications on her campaign blog as being a graduate of St. Paul Central High School and “The School of Hard Knocks,” wrote she is running in the election to “expose the high crimes (and) misdemeanors of Chris Coleman.”

Her top priorities if elected, as listed on her blog, are fiscal responsibility and stopping the “insane harassment” by the government of taxpayers, homeowners and small businesses.

Dornfeld filed under his nickname “Dirty Kurty.” He has never run for political office and is a city maintenance worker. He wants more spending on roads and less on bike paths.

“There’s some people that disagree with a lot of things here in Public Works, and that’s what I’m going to try to fix,” Dornfeld told the Pioneer Press. “Bike paths, making wrong decisions, like there used to be a seven-year cycle for seal coating, and somebody made the decision to go to 10 years, and now we’re paying for it. Now we’ve got so many holes, it’s costing us more money than it ever should have cost us. We should have stayed on that seven-year course.”

Holden described himself on his website as a “bold leader who will focus on solutions that start from the neighborhood up.” His website described these “solutions” as higher quality schools, safer streets and new businesses.

According to the St. Paul Office of the Mayor website, Coleman’s priorities include working to close the achievement gap, creating sustainable and responsible budgets and investing in the infrastructure of St. Paul.

Although St. Paul’s mayoral race is prominent, the 35-candidate Minneapolis mayoral ballot has dominated the headlines. According to Steven Hoffman, professor and chair of St. Thomas’ political science department, the $20 filing fee in Minneapolis allowed more candidates to run than St. Paul’s $500 filing fee.

Hoffman said even if the St. Paul candidates don’t significantly challenge Coleman, they still deserve to be viewed with respect.

“Anybody that takes the time to run and puts any kind of effort into it ought to be regarded seriously because it is not an easy thing to do to run for office, particularly in today’s climate,” Hoffman said.

Sophomore Ryan Slechta, vice president of St. Thomas College Democrats, said students should care about the mayoral races.

“St. Thomas has been growing a lot in the past few years,” Slechta said. “People need to live around campus, and since the housing ordinance has been passed and student housing has been really restricted, policies on where students are permitted to live will have a severe impact on students in the near future.”

Sophomore Peter Moe, College Republicans’ secretary, said all the candidates bring “valuable insight to the table.”

“Tim Holden brings a pro-economic growth platform along with fighting government excess. Sharon Anderson is running on limiting the St. Paul City Government’s scope of powers, and Kurt Dornfeld is campaigning on focusing the city government on essential functions such as building roads,” Moe said. “All three candidates are going to push the issues and create a constructive dialogue throughout the race.”

Hoffman said he thinks Coleman’s re-election is likely.

“He, I think, will win in a landslide. He’s done a good job. He’s avoided controversy; he’s popular. He won big last time, and there isn’t any serious opposition to him,” Hoffman said.

Slechta said the College Democrats also expect Coleman to win the race.

“We’re not even really doing much door knocking,” Slechta said.

Moe agreed students should pay attention to the race.

“Since St. Thomas is a significant member of the St. Paul community, we ought to be involved in our community and know what’s going on,” Moe said. “For example, if property taxes go up, St. Thomas students who live off-campus will see increases to their rent.”

Despite the effect the election may have on students, Hoffman said it can be hard to convince somebody who isn’t a permanent resident of the local area to care about the race.

“The effects are so indirect that it is hard to say, ‘Well, you really should know about this,’” Hoffman said.

Coleman won the 2009 mayoral election with 69 percent of the vote, but Moe said although Coleman ended with a large margin of victory in the last election, the non-incumbents aren’t necessarily out of the running.

“This is a tough race for any challenger, but not impossible. While Mayor Coleman has many supporters, donors and a well-built campaign, his tenure has been mired with problems that serve as ammunition for his opponents,” Moe said.

Zach Zumbusch can be reached at zumb8499@stthomas.edu.