Jantzer defeated challenger Josiah Roise with 84% of the vote. The final, unofficial tally was 4,890-887. The mayor’s race drew 5,826 votes, compared to 4,551 in a three-way race won by Tom Ross in 2022. Ross resigned April 1, 2025, and Jantzer was elected to the position last August.

“I’m grateful for the results and being kept on the job as mayor. I think my message was that Minot is a pretty good city and a good place to live and raise kids, and that the radical change of direction on things like flood protection and some other things weren’t really where the community wanted to go,” Jantzer said. “I think we can go forward. I look forward to working with the new council members and trying to carry on with providing good city government with excellent services and completing some of these big projects we have, and being ready for some economic growth.”

He added the council will be getting back to work on the 2027 budget, too.

“We have to be realistic about what it takes to run a city government the size of ours,” he said. “We’ll be trying to look at ways to be more efficient and ways to reduce the expense of that, but ultimately, it takes a certain amount of revenue to be able to fund what we are providing, and we’re going to have to come to grips with that as well.”

Stephan Podrygula

Podrygula, who topped the seven-way race for city council, expressed his gratitude to the citizens.

“I want to do everything I can to live up to that confidence,” he said. “I never expected to be number one, and that’s very gratifying, and I feel very humble.”

In the unofficial totals, Podrygula received 2,924 votes, followed by MacMartin with 2,763 and Locken with 2,425.

“I am humbled and grateful for the folks that came out and have supported me in this election, and I will work very hard to continue to earn their trust and respect,” MacMartin said.

Locken also called support by voters deeply humbling.

John MacMartin

“It goes to show that if you spend a lot of your life showing up for your community, that they’ll show up for you when it really matters,” said Locken, an avid volunteer and 2022 Minot Citizen of the Year. “I can’t wait to get to work, and I really hope that I can do the best that I can.”

Other council votes went to Joan Hawbaker, 2,368; Nicole Brasfield, 2,235; Isaiah Keller, 1,684; and David Wiley, 1,122.

Podrygula, a psychologist, previously served on the council for 16 years over a period from 1998 to 2024.

“In the two years I’ve been off council, I’ve learned and I think I have a better sense of what the average citizen thinks. I think that there’s even more of a call than before for effectiveness and efficiency in government, so I will be pushing that even harder than I have before, and I think if I’ve made mistakes, one of them has been not pushing harder for accountability.”

He said coming back onto the council, he will advocate for harnessing the energy of city staff and ensuring they have good training and organizational support to do their jobs even better. He also believes the city needs to re-evaluate its capital improvement budget to reprioritize items, including determining how to address the remodeling of the police station because the $15 million estimate isn’t there when compared to other city needs, he said.

Erick Locken

MacMartin, who had a 32-year career with the Minot Area Chamber and Minot Area Chamber EDC, also said government spending and services appeared to be an issue for voters.

“I believe that people understand decisions are going to be hard but people have come to expect and want certain services to be delivered to them, and services come along with a cost,” he said. “I have said it during the campaign, that I didn’t believe taking money out of reserves to reduce the mill levy was being honest with the voters, and I still maintain that, and I think the people that supported me agreed and understood that.”

Locken, who works for Gordon Technologies in Minot, said he spent significant time meeting with city officials and staff, which was important in the race.

“They’re what really got me across the finish line to be able to win a seat on city council right now. I have spent a lot of time in the last three months trying to meet as many people as I can that are involved with the City of Minot as employees. It’s important to listen to their voice, because they’re the ones that keep us moving every day. I think that made a big difference – to show people that I’m willing to show up and do the work with them.”

In the race for municipal judge, Ashley Beall was reelected. Beall, who owns Beall Law Office in Minot, was first elected in 2018. She out-tallied Faron Terry, who owns Terry Law Office in Minot, in unofficial results, 4,177-1,113.

Ashley Beall