Who is running for Roseville Mayor in the 2026 General Election?
A Roseville Mayor Candidate Guide
If you're looking for information about the candidates running for mayor in Roseville, MN, you've come to the right place!
The 2026 General Election officially underway with early and absentee voting already started and the final day to vote on Election Day on November 3, 2026.
Here is an overview of the candidates running for mayor in Roseville, MN to get you started.
Meet the Candidates for Roseville Mayor
This guide was created for you based on candidate questionnaires and publicly available information. The questions for the General Election candidate questionnaire were developed based on questions for the candidates submitted by Roseville Reader subscribers. The candidate responses have been quoted exactly as submitted, without additional commentary or editing. The candidates listed in the order they will appear on your ballot.
Roger B. Hess Jr.
Roger B. Hess Jr. is a lifelong resident of Roseville. He is a fourth generation Roseville resident whose family has lived in the community for over 100 years, according to Hess. His father served on the Roseville city council in the 1970s and Hess Jr. ran for mayor in 1979. Hess Jr. owns a hairstylist supply business which has been in his family for decades. He has been involved on committees and volunteered with the Roseville Historical Society, Roseville Area School District, and the City of Roseville, according to the candidate. Hess Jr. is a regular participant in public comment at city council meetings.
Questionnaire: Roger B. Hess Jr.'s Responses
What’s your motivation for running for Mayor of Roseville?
"To dramatically increase resident participation in the workings of the city of Roseville. More eyes on what is happening will help keep taxes and fees lower, and will insure the priorities of residents are considered in decisions."
What do you like about living in Roseville?
"I like the mostly small neighborhoods—not a large number of huge housing developments."
How do you think about budget planning and weighing the needs of government services with community concerns about property taxes?
"Unfortunately, I feel the hardships being felt by fixed income and lower income residents is not always being considered, especially with the new, non-property tax XCEL fees and local sales tax, that started recently. All of these increase the burdens on Roseville residents. Residents need to make their voices heard, and tell the City Council what their priorities are."
What would you like to see change in the next 4 years in Roseville?
"I would like to see increased accountability, fairness, and transparency by the City Council and City staff, which will happen if residents participate in City Council meetings and fill the chamber, and make their voices heard! For example, before the local sales tax vote, the Council and Staff should have told the voters if they were approving or disapproving the actual projects or just how the projects would be financed, as I asked them to do, before the vote was taken, but they refused. Many people thought that voting down either or both of the projects would stop the projects, but the vote just decided how they would be paid for."
Share how you plan to pay attention to the needs of the community and how that would impact your decision-making as mayor.
"Before making any decision, I would gather as much information and opinions from Roseville residents, as possible. I would create a VOLUNTARY database of the talents and expertise of residents, who I could then contact for their points of view and advice on a subject."
What is your opinion on Automated License Plate Readers and how they should be regulated in Roseville?
"Well, it is up to the City Council and the Police Chief to decide jointly how they are used, with input from Roseville residents. How they are used should be limited to looking for people who have outstanding warrants and to find missing people and stolen vehicles—not watch law abiding residents."
Share an example of a “city councilmember initiated agenda item” you would like to put forward in your first term.
"If not too late, I would want to revisit the MOC and license center designs. Both designs are not giving taxpayers the most bang for the buck and are not the most efficient and safe design for city employees. Many unnecessary compromises have been made because of the design of splitting up the MOC. For not much more money, the dance studio, which is only used a few hours and a few days a year, could be a black box theater—with a first class dance studio, which could be used several hours a day, 365 days a year. The ball field needs to be rebuilt, so it could easily be reconstructed on other city owned park land, freeing up space in Veteran's Park."
Your daughter Rebecca Carlson is running for Roseville City Council. How would you avoid potential conflicts of interest if you are both elected?
"My daughter did not tell me she was going to run for City Council, until after she filed, just like I did not tell my parents until I filed for Mayor, back in 1979. We are running completely separate campaigns and do not coordinate in any way, and if both are elected, we would continue that separation and serve as two separate people."
What else do you want voters to know about you?
"My family has lived in Roseville for over 100 years, and I am part of the 4th generation of 6 generations to live here. Vastly increasing resident participation in the workings of the city, and making sure Roseville is a great place for my Grandson to grow up in, are paramount to me! Accountability is very important to me. I talked the City Council into having the Police Dept. produce a report, annually, concerning the Police Forefiture funds, which wasn't being done. Fairness is also important, and I talked city staff into no longer labeling current city officials as incumbents when they run for reelection, which is in the spirit of state law, when the city posts listings of candidates. So, future new candidates will have a more fair chance to be elected."
Note: A current photo of the candidate was not submitted.
Dan Roe (incumbent)
Dan Roe has been mayor of Roseville since 2011. Prior to that, Roe served as a Roseville City Council member from 2008-2010. Born and raised in Minnesota, he lived in small rural towns and in the Twin Cities. Roe graduated from the University of Michigan with a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering before settling in Roseville. In his professional life, he has worked in design and sales for industrial process systems and equipment at Dynamic Air Inc. in Vadnais Heights since 1990. In his spare time, Roe likes to hike and paddle in the wilderness, watch baseball, and listen to live jazz music.
Roe has served on the boards of Northeast Youth and Family Services and Visit Roseville. He currently serves on the board of the Minnesota Benefit Association. Before being elected to city council, Roe served on the Roseville Planning Commission and stakeholder panels for Roseville's comprehensive plan, Parks & Recreation master plan, and Twin Lakes development planning.
Questionnaire: Dan Roe's Responses
What’s your motivation for running for Mayor of Roseville again?
"I am motivated to run again for mayor because I continue to find reward in problem-solving, and I believe that my experience and abilities in the role of mayor continue to be helpful to address the new challenges we face together as a community. The approach I take to the job is to work with people who have a variety of ideas and perspectives to find what works best as a solution for as many of the people with as many of the different perspectives as possible. I know that participating in city decision-making can seem confusing and intimidating to folks who don’t do that every day, so I work to make sure that people understand the process and feel like they can participate freely."
What do you like about living in Roseville?
"I very much like that Roseville is a place where people care about each other and this community, and do the work it takes to make that the case. People in Roseville are invested in this place, and continue to reinvest their time, efforts, and resources in countless ways. That was evidenced during Operation Metro Surge earlier this year, but it has also been evidenced by years of volunteering and fundraising for our park & recreation system, and by long-standing and strong service organizations and faith communities, among other ways."
What would you like to see change in the next 4 years in Roseville?
"It may not be surprising that as a long-time incumbent I am not promoting dramatic change in Roseville. However, I believe that we should continue to evolve and improve how the City does business. In the next 4 years I expect that our newly adopted strategic plan will be more fully incorporated into City decision-making. I expect that we will look at multiple years of impacts of budget decisions rather than just year one. One thing I’d like to change is the rate of increase in personnel at the City over the last few years. Recent increases were intentional to address specific needs—especially in fire/EMS and police services, but those increases have a cost, and we should work to level out staffing, and find ways to incorporate more technology into City work."
How do you think about budget planning and weighing the needs of government services with community concerns about property taxes?
"Balancing the community’s expectations for services against property tax impacts is one of the most important aspects of being a city elected official. The city must provide accessible information about services and costs to the community and then be responsive to the community in our decisions about the services provided and the taxes required. Cost pressures on households and the variety of opinions across the community about service levels and appropriate taxation make the budgeting job all the more challenging. My approach is to always look for efficiencies and savings, to find ways to leverage shared resources with other communities, and to find alternative sources of revenue whenever possible, in order to minimize tax impacts."
Share how you pay attention to the needs of the community and how that impacts your decision-making as mayor?
"As elected officials, we hear from the community in numerous ways, from conversations at community events or while doing errands to phone calls and emails, along with testimony at city council and commission meetings. My decision making is very much informed by the input of the public, because I know that good ideas can come from anyone who has a chance to share their ideas. The best city council decisions are those that reflect the broadest input. That is why I have worked throughout my time on the council to increase public input into council decision-making."
What is your opinion on Automated License Plate Readers and how they should be regulated in Roseville?
"I understand both the concerns people have about ALPRs, and especially the handling of data collected by them, and the specific benefits that Roseville police and others have found from their use in solving local crimes. I am glad that both Minnesota and Roseville have in place some of the strictest controls over the treatment of and access to data collected by ALPRs. The benefits in the form of assistance with things like active Amber Alerts and stolen vehicles can be very important. I think it is appropriate that deployment of ALPRs has been limited to specific locations of known past troubling activity – largely in retail areas – rather than city-wide, and that access to the data is strictly limited. Like any technology or technique, ALPRs must be used properly, and their use must be changed or stopped if not being used properly."
Share an example of a “city councilmember initiated agenda item” you initiated in your most recent term and something you’d like to bring forward in your next.
"While it was not strictly a “councilmember initiated agenda item,” I initiated the referral of the Aldine right-of-way and pathway matter to the Parks & Recreation Commission last year to add their perspective to the discussions that had been happening between residents and the city council. I believe it was important to get that additional review and feedback, so that a better decision could be made.
At this time, I don’t have a plan to bring forward a particular “councilmember initiated item” in a next term. My initiatives and proposals tend to evolve from ongoing issues or discussions, and I usually bring those forward during council deliberations rather than using the “councilmember initiated item” process."
What else do you want voters to know about you?
"I honestly don’t expect or intend to be mayor forever, and I encourage my potential successors to get involved in our local government through service on city commissions, or in other ways, because that experience is especially helpful to both getting elected and serving effectively."
Learn More
Roseville City Council Candidate Guide
Learn about the candidates running for Roseville City Council:
Naomi Krueger
League of Women Voters Candidate Forum
The candidates for Roseville Mayor and Roseville City Council have also been invited to participate in a candidate forum hosted by the League of Women Voters of the Roseville Area. This forum will take place live at Roseville City Hall on Thursday, September 24 at 7:00 p.m. The forum will also be livestreamed and recorded and posted on YouTube. Once the recording is available, we'll link to it in this guide too.
Prepare to Vote
Find out what else is on your ballot, check your voter registration, and locate your polling place:
