Minnesota and North Dakota Voter's Guide

Forum Communications Co., in collaboration with the League of Women Voters of Minnesota and of North Dakota, is providing this voter guide to help keep you informed ahead of the 2024 election.

  • Learn where candidates running for office in your community stand on the issues.
  • Build your ballot before voting. Print or email the information to use as a reference when you actually vote.

We do not save your information; it will be lost when you leave this page. Only candidates that appear on your ballot will be listed. Additional information may be available for your area so be sure to scroll to the bottom of the page for other voters’ guides.

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Voter Guide

Dakota County Commissioner District 4

County commissioners are the county s key policymakers. They oversee the administration of the county, set county budget, and participate in county long-range planning. County services that they oversee include a wide variety of social service and welfare programs, as well as certain public health programs. Learn more about the day in the life of a county commissioner in this video from the Association of Minnesota Counties. (https://www.mncounties.org/meetings_and_education/day_in_the_life_of_a_minnesota_county_commissioner.php)

Click a candidate icon to find more information about the candidate. To compare two candidates, click the "compare" button. To start over, click a candidate icon.

  • Candidate picture

    Bill Droste
    (NP)

Biographical Information

If elected, what will your top three priorities be and why? (750 characters)

How would you ensure election laws do not create barriers to Minnesotans’ freedom to vote while also ensuring safe and secure elections? (500 characters)

What do you see as the biggest challenges to mental health and social services in your county, and how would you address them? (500 characters)

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Contact Phone 651-280-5630
Campaign Email billdroste@gmail.com
If elected my top three priorities are housing, transportation networks, and meeting the demands of health and human services. Because of low housing inventories and high interest rates, this past decade, the cost of housing exceeded what many people can afford. Dakota County has many housing programs but the supply is not meeting demand. The new State and Local Affordable Housing Aid will provide new opportunities for cities and counties to expand affordable housing in our communities. As a growing county, we need to be more proactive in building transportation networks that meet the changing needs of our county with a higher focus on microtransit.
Safe and secure elections are a core responsibility of local governments. Serving as a mayor and county commissioner for over 20 years, I have confidence in the staff conducting elections and have seen exceptional work by employees ensuring transparency and security in the voting process. Having sufficient election judges also plays an important role.
Staffing has been a problem for the past two years with the growing demand for health and human services, however, we are making progress. Dakota County and Guild will open a new 16-bed Crisis and Recovery Center in early 2025. We have also implemented an Embedded Social Worker program that pairs a county social worker with local law enforcement. This program provides immediate and long-term connections. More innovative programs like the two mentioned are needed.
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The League of Women Voters of Minnesota and North Dakota crafted the questions sent to the candidates in the Spring of 2024. They reached out to candidates based on contact information in their public candidate filings. Candidates with email addresses were invited and reminded with emails. Candidates with only mailing addresses were sent a letter. Candidates with phone numbers received a phone call as well.

Candidate responses are published as they responded and have not been edited, except when responses were longer than the given character limit. In those cases, the responses are truncated.

VOTE411 is brought to you by the League of Women Voters Education Fund and League of Women Voters of Minnesota Education Fund. The League of Women Voters does not support or oppose any political party or candidate for office.