Miranda Schuler, Ron Merritt and Jedidiah Rader join incumbents Shelly Weppler and Jim Rostad on the general election ballot.

Weppler and Rader were the only candidates who filed to run last spring. The others ran as write-ins during the June primary and have advanced to the general election.

Schuler, who operates a Minot insurance agency, is a former member of the Minot School Board and Minot City Council.

Schuler said last year she had investigated running for the commission but due to personal commitments, she decided not to circulate petitions and file for candidacy. However, when only two people filed for the three seats, she opted to get into the race.

Ron Merritt

“I think it’s important to show our younger generation that they can do these things, and they should do these things. It’s important to our communities to be active members, and so that’s the reason I run,” she said at a candidate event earlier this month.

“I was not planning on doing this, this soon after I retired,” said Merritt, who retired as executive director for the Minot Park District in May of 2023. Merritt had been with the park district since May 1992, starting as a zookeeper, and had been executive director since 2005. He now is employed by a Minot credit union.

Merritt, who lives in the rural Minot area, said he felt a nudge that this was the time to run when he learned only two had filed to get on the ballot.

“My background, being a public servant for my entire career, actually being in charge of a political subdivision, gives me a lot of skills and background that I think will be very valuable, especially with Ward County. The county commission directly oversees the departments,” he said. “I did that for a living for 18 years, so I think I could be very good at that.”

Weppler, a graduate of Minot High School, served in the Army in Germany and earned a business administration degree from Minot State University. She worked in the banking industry until becoming president of Inspiritus Community Health Foundation.

Miranda Schuler

Coming up on 12 years on the commission, Weppler said at a recent candidate event that she wants to continue serving to see through what was promised when voters approved a half percent sales tax. The sales tax has paid off bonds on a new administrative building and jail and now is going toward the other purpose approved by voters – roads.

“I want to just finish that out. I want to see that through to the end,” she said.

Rader, who moved to North Dakota from Michigan about eight years ago, manages a Minot retail store. He said through his involvement in Sons of Liberty, he knew he wanted to make a difference in local government so filed to run for county commission.

“I saw that we needed more people with a business mindset,” Rader said at a candidate forum in Minot.

Rostad, a native of Carpio, operated a collision repair business in Minot for 20 years. He has served on the commission for nearly eight years and has been a 24-year member of the Minot School Board.

“I’ve become very well connected with a lot of government and how it works and how to get things done on behalf of the county,” Rostad said at the candidate forum. “I feel that I represent all of Ward County and all the cities. I know a lot of people in virtually every one of them, and I take a lot of pride in that.”

The candidates have disclosed their priorities in recent weeks, which include both spending and policy positions.

“What I really want to get down to is to make sure that we as the county are spending our money where the people want it spent,” Merritt said. “Everybody has opinions on everything, but we were very good at that where I worked before, at really dialing in and just talking to hundreds of people and asking for them to give us their opinions. We could boil it down into certain areas that we felt were good – and where people were happiest (about) where their money was getting spent.”

Merritt described the county’s 2025 budget as lean but added he would want to hear more from the citizens during the budgeting process.

“I want to feel good, myself, with information from the citizens on what they’re happy with and what maybe they’re not happy with,” he said. “I’m not running because I think there’s anything wrong. But my strength is really listening to the people and finding out what they really want us to be doing, and that would be a priority.”

Merritt also said he will focus on conservative leadership that limits spending to the level necessary, seeking to reduce the tax burden where possible.

“Our county government should stick to basic functions and do them well,” he said.

Rader said his priorities are to listen to constituents, fund the basics and not grow government.

“We need to make sure we have a real tight focus on snow removal, bridges, roads,” he said. “There’s nothing wrong with the county as it is but we do not want to grow government.”

Schuler listed the proposed southwest connector corridor around Minot as her top priority due to concerns about the current traffic situation.

“It’s not safe for the motorists. It’s not safe for development. So, when we’re talking about specific regional development, that would be a priority for me,” said Schuler, who also listed jail operations, specifically opioid programs for inmates, as another priority.

She added the county needs to focus on critical infrastructure.

“I believe the job of government is to provide the critical infrastructure and the services that are needed. I don’t believe that there is a lot of extra room in government for meddling in things that are best served by the businesses,” she said.

“My top priority would be to do what I’ve done for the last eight years, and that is be well prepared for our commission meetings,” Rostad said. He added he would prioritize his duties in supervising departments that he’s appointed to oversee and would continue to be well informed on what’s going on in the county and the issues the county faces.

In addition, he stressed the importance of the half percent sales tax to road infrastructure and the work of Task Force 21, the Minot Area Chamber EDC’s military retention committee, to the county’s economy.

Weppler said her top priority would be to look for financial resources, which are needed in the existing environment of mandated government programs and will be needed if voters elect to eliminate property taxes. Another priority is to complete and adopt a new comprehensive plan and zoning code to put appropriate road and building guidelines in place, she said. She also listed veterans services and county parks as other areas with minimal budgets but large demands that the county needs to stay attuned to.

The candidates are united in wanting to see property taxes lowered, and a couple have spoken positively about the property tax elimination measure on the Nov. 5 ballot.

“If Measure 4 passes, that will be a great boost to the economy,” Rader said. “We should seek to take as little money from the citizens as possible so they use their money the way they want to use it.”

Merritt considers Ward County to be in a good place if voters decide to eliminate property taxes on Nov. 5. He concedes Measure 4 will be a significant change that will take adaption. However, he added he is confident adaptions can be made.

“There’s a lot of smart people that are at the state level that have to figure out how to make this work at their end, and there’s a lot of smart people here too. So, change does not scare me at all. I’m fine with whatever happens,” he said.