MANKATO — Toby Leonard is hoping the adage “third times the charm” proves to be accurate.
The Mankato businessman is running for mayor once again, after falling in the primaries in 2018 and in the general election in 2022. In both races the winner was Mankato Mayor Najwa Massad.
“I’ve continuously increased my percentage of votes,” Leonard said, referring to his last two campaigns. “I see that the numbers are increasing, and so I have high hopes for this campaign that I’ll meet over 50%.”
In 2018, Leonard came in third in a six-candidate race, falling just one spot shy of advancing to the general election, collecting about 11% of the votes compared to Massad’s 38% and Bukata Hayes’ 28%. Massad would go on to win that race with 56% of the votes cast.
In 2022, Leonard improved in the primaries, in a race which saw half as many candidates. He collected 12.5% of the votes compared to Massad’s 76.8% and John Martin West’s 10.6%. In the general election, he lost to Massad by a wide margin, collecting just 29.9% of the votes to Massad’s 69.6%.
RENT PRICES
As for what his priorities are this time around, one of the big issues Leonard points to is rental prices, and many residents being priced out of their homes. However, Leonard is against the traditional method of solving that issue — rent control.
“We noticed in St. Paul, they pushed in a pretty stringent rent control ordinance, and we saw the cost of rent go up,” Leonard said. “We should be looking at supply side. Can we increase the supply? Can we make it easier for developers to develop lower-income apartments? Can we make it easier for landlords to get licenses? We’ll reduce the cost on that, so if we can increase the supply, that will drop the price down.”
According to a Minnesota Reformer article, the reason the St. Paul rent control ordinance was rolled back in 2025 was actually for stalled construction, not rent price increases. In another article from the online publication, tenants in St. Paul suggested landlords were trying to skirt the rent control ordinance, and effectively doing so, by charging for utilities previously included in the rent, leading to year-over-year increases in housing costs of about 10%.
FEDERAL IMMIGRATION PRESENCE
Leonard also spoke on federal immigration enforcement in the Mankato area, calling it a “federal problem” and saying the solution is to put pressure on the federal government to prioritize legal immigration so that ICE “has no reason to be here.”
“We are kind of bound by what the federal agencies do. We can make recommendations, we can do that, but most of our hands are tied,” Leonard said. “Let’s take this up to the federal level and push for legal immigration so we can reduce the need for ICE enforcement.”
He talked about a push from some residents calling on the city to ban federal agents from using city property such as parking ramps and parking lots, saying he was generally in favor of the action.
“Use of city parking lots and stuff, no that’s not OK,” Leonard said. “We have our own infrastructure, if the feds wish to build their own infrastructure they can, but we don’t need to support them.”
Leonard also said he supported the ordinance prohibiting the use of face masks for law enforcement, but questioned the city’s ability to enforce it.
“That’s a great ordinance to pass — it will be interesting to see if it can be enforced,” Leonard said. “ICE agents will do as ICE agents wish. Hopefully they will accept our instructions and not wear masks.”
BALANCING RESPONSIBILITIES
Leonard, owner of Mankato Guns, also knows there can always be questions when business owners sit in high-level offices. He assures Mankatoans that there’s no conflict for him between business and city responsibilities.
“My part-time business is regulated extensively at the federal and state levels, the state statutes preempt local ordinances, so the needs of the city have no influence on the needs of the business for almost every aspect of the business,” he said. “I currently work full time as a counselor at St. Peter Regional Treatment Center and run the side business part time, so I would reduce my business hours to free up the necessary time for the mayorship.”
THE CAMPAIGN
As for how his campaign will look, Leonard says it’s mostly going to be an online campaign but will feature plenty of door-knocking and face-to-face interactions.
“It’s very important to go face to face with people. If I’m not willing to talk to you and listen to you, what’s the point,” Leonard said. “I’m perfectly willing to listen to people who protest, I’m perfectly willing to listen to anybody who has grievances. I want to hear what you have to say.”
Facing off against two other candidates in the Aug. 11 primary — Massad and Julia Hamann — Leonard knows it’s going to be a fight to get on the ballot in November. As for who his competitor will be should he advance to the general, Leonard says he’s got no preference.
“I am always up for a challenge, so I do not have a preference. Either would be a worthy candidate and I look forward to the November election,” he said.