By Kari Lucin, staff writer

With just five days left to file for upcoming elections, the race for a seat on the Freeborn County Board of Commissioners is heating up.

Two men, Bill Danielsen and Christopher Shoff, have officially thrown their hats in the ring for

District 4’s seat on the board. Meanwhile, incumbent Dave Mullenbach has not yet announced whether he will attempt to keep his office or not.

&8220;I’m waiting to see who files, so I haven’t actually decided yet,&8221; Mullenbach said Wednesday. &8220;And I hope there’s some good candidates who file.&8221;

The two confirmed candidates both have Albert Lea addresses.

Bill Danielsen has been retired from his position as an accountant for seven years and has volunteered with the Veterans of Foreign Wars, Cedar Valley Services, Ascension Lutheran Church and the Albert Lea/Freeborn County Chamber of Commerce.

&8220;What we have to do is try to economically and politically do what’s fair for the majority of the county, and sometimes, that’s not going to be pleasing or even acceptable to some people, but I think our responsibility is to the present and future of the county,&8221; Danielsen said.

Christopher Shoff is a chiropractor at Shoff Chiropractic, and is currently a member of the First Lutheran Church of Albert Lea, the Eagles, the Elks and the Albert Lea/Freeborn County Chamber of Commerce.

&8220;It’s up to the younger people to step up and lead us into the future,&8221; said Shoff, 32. &8220;There’s going to be a point where we get tapped out as a community on how much we can fund as property taxes, and we’re getting there. We’re getting to have problems with the property tax, and so that needs to be addressed in different ways.&8221;

Neither of the two have served in an elected position with the government before.