UPDATE: Faith in Minnestoa candidates sweep city council elections

ROCHESTER, Minn. (KTTC) – Rochester City Council will see four new faces in January: Randy Schubring for City Council President, Nick Miller for Ward 2, Andy Friederichs for Ward 4, and Dan Doering for Ward 6.

Results for the city council races were determined early Wednesday morning, following Election Day.

Schubring, Miller, and Doering all have one thing in common through their campaigns: an endorsement from the political non-profit Faith in Minnestoa.

Faith in Minnesota is a 501(c)4 political branch of ISAIAH Faith in Action. ISAIAH is a non-profit organization declaring itself as the world's largest grassroots faith-based organization.

The faith-based endorsements received attention earlier this election season, as Rochester city council positions and races are non-partisan.

Before the elections, current Ward 2 Council Member Mark Bransford said during a September interview that the faith endorsements show candidates partaking in acts of partisanship while campaigning for a non-partisan position.

Bransford declined to interview with his reactions to the election results.

"This is a group that has raised $21,000 in our local election to get three of their handpicked candidates onto council seats to push [its] agenda," Bransford reminded.

Mayor Kim Norton is preparing for a new wave of council members and said endorsements for non-partisan positions are nothing new to Rochester.

"It's not unusual. Sierra Club, for instance, when I ran for mayor did the same thing and nobody thought a thing of it," Norton mentioned.

Randy Schubring won his race for city council president against current Ward 5 Council Member Shaun Palmer. Schubring said Faith in Minnestoa is only one of his many endorsements.

"It was a major component of my broad coalition, but I also had the support of the Sierra Club, Moms Demand Action, Every Town for Gun Safety as well as Mayor Norton," Schubring stated.

The Ward 6 race was won by Dan Doering against Mark Schleusner. Doering mentioned he will continue to work with Faith in Minnestoa after taking office.

"That endorsement didn't come with faith in Minnesota, requiring me to vote one way or the other. It was really voting and leading based out of a set of shared values," Doering said.

Nick Miller declared he worked on issues in Rochester with volunteers of the faith group before the Ward 2 race against Tripp Welch.

"The people that I would say are friends and coworkers in this campaign, many of whom are connected with Faith in Minnesota, are people I was already working with," Miller stated.

All three candidates said after being sworn into office in early January, one policy they are heavily advocating for is more affordable housing in Rochester.