When Mower County residents go to the polls on Nov. 4, they’ll find only a few races to vote for when it comes to county seats. A big reason may be a lack of big-ticket issues.

To incumbents like Commissioners Jerry Reinartz and Tony Bennett, that’s not a bad thing. Both ran at a time when they felt the county spent too much and raised taxes, and both have previously said they’re happy to see the county return to business as usual after several highly public, high-ticket projects, most notably the $28-million Jail and Justice Center.

“That’s what brings on challengers — if there’s one big debate or issue,” Reinartz said.

Six of the nine county seats on the ballot this year are unopposed, including Commissioners Bennett, Reinartz and Mike Ankeny, as well as County Attorney Kristen Nelsen, Sheriff Terese Amazi and Recorder Jill Cordes.

The only competition is for Auditor-Treasurer Doug Groh’s seat, who is being challenged by Steven Reinartz, and for two Soil and Water Supervisor seats: John Grass Jr. and James Kellogg for District 3, and John Bhend, John Fossey and Randy Smith for District 4.

To County Coordinator Craig Oscarson’s memory, he can’t remember a time within the last 20 years when there was no competition three commissioner seats like this year.

“It’s pretty rare,” he said.

In a way, this election may be more a return to normal — or at least the new normal.

Oscarson agreed the jail project got people interested in county government and was a big part of the reason many challengers came forward to challenge incumbents.

“The jail became a public issue, and — right, wrong or indifferent — a lot of people were not happy with the results, and that encouraged them to run for office to see if they could make a difference,” Oscarson said.

One such candidate was Bennett, who decided to run because he thought the board could have communicated with the public better over the jail project.

It’s no surprise to county officials that all the commissioners who voted for the jail project — either to build the jail or to build it downtown — either retired, passed away or lost a subsequent election.

“I advised the commissioners way back when we started talking about this that jails can be commissioner killers,” Oscarson said. “So the question is, ‘Is it the right thing to do, and do you care if you lose your seat?’ And they decided it was the right thing to do.”

The board voted 3-2 to build the jail downtown with Dave Tollefson, Dick Lang and Ray Tucker voting for the project and David Hillier and Dick Cummings voting against it.

Cummings retired, and Tollefson passed away. Tucker lost a few elections later to Polly Glynn, Reinartz defeated Hillier, and Lang lost to Bennett. Before the jail project was fully approved, Tollefson defeated Gary Ellingson in an election often tied to jail issues.

The interest generated by the jail isn’t new. Oscarson said the same happens when a new school is built. When Grand Meadow built its new school, several commissioners were defeated in the next election. High-cost projects like schools and jails are often divisive, with people either fully for or fully against them, Oscarson noted.

“I think the jail did have a big impact on the elections,” Oscarson said. “It may not have been the only impact.”

In each election, other factors coincided and played a role. The jail project opened for bids when the economy soured early during the recession, so budgets and taxes were also key issues — as they were in Reinartz and Bennett’s initial campaigns.

Then there was incumbent backlash stemming from national and state hardships.

“Any of those races that were tight and the incumbent got beat, it was probably the jail,” Oscarson said. “If it was a big difference, it was more than the jail.”

The public interest generated by the jail wasn’t necessarily a bad thing. Oscarson said the project may have gotten people more excited and knowledgeable about county government.

A lot of times, the county is a bit of a hidden government when compared to schools and city government, he noted, adding that some people aren’t aware that jails, human services and other such services are county functions.

“Until there’s a controversy or an issue, we don’t see a lot of people wanting to run for office,” Oscarson said.

Early in Oscarson’s tenure with the county, he remembers there being several commissioners who’d been in office for 20 or more years, and many potential challengers didn’t run because they didn’t think they could beat such an incumbent. And, there wasn’t much controversy then.

“What we used to see was very well-seated commissioners who took care of their districts and were almost unbeatable,” Oscarson said, noting it was often the same way with the recorder and attorney seats.

When Commissioner Bob Shaw was in office, he always filed early, and Oscarson remembers receiving several calls from potential competitors wanting to know if Shaw was running again.

“Soon as they heard he filed, click,” Oscarson said. “The year he retired, they came out of the woodwork.”

Oscarson also thinks candidates and the voters are changing. He said there are more people willing to run, and voters also have a different mindset.

“I think the day of the long-term incumbent county commissioner is probably gone,” he said. “I don’t think we’re going to see 30-, 40-year commissioners anymore.”

Throughout the state, he’s seen many incumbents retire or get beaten on campaigns pushing for new blood.

“It’s always good to have competition,” Oscarson said. “If nothing else, it keeps the incumbents fresh.”

Oscarson has praised commissioners for their hard work, and he noted the commissioners have worked well together, not letting split votes turn into prolonged feuds. Reinartz and Bennett also agreed the current board works well together, and each commissioner can vote his or her own way without breeding controversy.