Rep Tim Mahoney currently holds the seat but is not running again. On the ballot:

Hoang Murphy
John Thompson

THIS is my VERY LAST PRIMARY POST (arriving probably too late to be useful but ONE MORE AND I WILL BE ABLE TO FEEL DONE).

So yeah I have no idea which of these genuinely amazing people I would vote for.

Hoang Murphy is the son of a Hmong immigrant and a working-class white person from greater Minnesota; he grew up in foster care; went to college and became a teacher, only to lose a student to gun violence; worked as a Public Policy Fellow in the Obama administration; came home to start an organization to advocate for foster kids (specifically by lobbying for better legislation to protect them).

John Thompson is a Black man who was a close friend of Philando Castile. After his friend was killed by a police officer during a traffic stop, he says, “I knew that I could no longer remain silent.”

Both of them have solid platforms. Murphy writes movingly about education (“A teacher saved my life, so I know firsthand the impact a good school can have on student outcomes”) and about LGBT rights (“I envision a state where queer and trans individuals are free to live and reclaim their lives free of discrimination and oppression….LGBTQ+ folks are disproportionately impacted by societal issues across the board, from bullying to homelessness to workplace discrimination, and I will build upon my background as an advocate to fight in solidarity with queer and trans community members and organizers who have been leading the movement.”) Thompson writes movingly about homelessness (“There were a few periods of hope during the last 27 years to reduce homelessness, but overall it appears our State Legislators chose to step over the family sleeping in the doorway or at least chose to look the other way”) and criminal justice reform (“I am an organizer. I have spent a good portion of my life organizing to reform our criminal justice system by working in coalition to eliminate the deeply punitive systems and practices in our communities. Community safety is about investing in people, not status quo systems like policing that were historically set up to oppress people of color, people in poverty, and more.”)

Murphy is endorsed by Mitra Jalali and Melvin Carter. Thompson is endorsed by Keith Ellison, Ilhan Omar, Tim Walz, and Betty McCollum.

I’m pretty sure no one who lives in this district is going to be checking my blog tomorrow morning to figure out who to vote for, which is just as well, because all I’ve got for you is, “I really wish both of these people could serve in the legislature.”