Such a delightfully straightforward race. On the ballot:

Betty McCollum (DFL)
Paul Wikstrom (Republican)

Betty McCollum is a solidly progressive Democrat. My main complaint about her is that she’s less fighty than she could be, as a Dem from a safe seat, but in general she votes the way I would like her to vote.

Paul Wikstrom is a Republican (which in itself is reason to vote against him). He’s a software engineering manager at Raytheon (per his LinkedIn), where he has worked for eight years. (Before that he worked for 17 years at Medtronic, so he’s someone who left the medical device industry to build weapons systems.)

His website talks about affordability but of course doesn’t blame any of the current issues on Trump’s tariffs or his pointless war on Iran. Instead, it suggests eliminating taxes on tips, overtime, and estates. (I would love to know, but am not inclined to do the math to figure out, how many more dollars would pass untaxed via an elimination of the estate tax vs. an elimination of taxes on overtime and tips. As it stands, the first $15 million of an estate is excluded from the estate tax already.)

He also talks a bunch about fraud and how it’s bad, so during the primary I sent him an e-mail to ask if he would support HR 7852 (the “No Getting Rich in Congress Act”) and HR 8309 (a law that would prevent Presidents from enriching themselves with public funds)? He did not respond.

I am going to vote for Betty McCollum, obviously!

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This seems like a good year to fundraise for a trans nonprofit, so I’m fundraising this year for TIGERRS. I don’t have a Patreon, and a fundraiser lets me see in a tangible way that people value my work, which is really helpful as a motivator. (This project is a lot of work.) I raised $7,230 during primary season so I’ve raised the goal.

I also have a new book out! Obstetrix is about an obstetrician who gets kidnapped by a cult because they want someone on hand to deliver their babies; it’s a story about enduring, surviving, and not giving up. You can buy it anywhere fine books are sold, and I’ve been doing my best to keep Uncle Hugo’s, Moon Palace, and Dreamhaven Books in signed copies.