Category Archives: Election 2022

Primary Elections 2022: Minnesota House 66A

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This is an open seat and two people are running in the primary:

Leigh Finke
Dave Thomas

Leigh Finke is a writer, editor, and documentary maker who is (correction: not endorsed by the DFL because the convention deadlocked, but the person opposing her at the convention dropped out) endorsed by everyone but the DFL, including just about all the area political figures (certainly everyone who’s endorsed in the race). Dave Thomas is a Civics teacher and veteran with zero endorsements. (He ran for US House in 2014 as an Independence Party candidate and you can read what I said about him at the time.)

Dave’s stances this time include term limits, a campaign finance rule that says candidates can only accept donations from people who live in their district, and he wants all police killings to result in a trial by jury. He wants to remove Minnesota from the federal student loan program and he thinks tuition should be charged on a sliding scale relative to expected earnings, so it’s cheaper to get a Philosophy degree than a Computer Science degree. (The consistent thing about his stances in 2014 and now is that several, if actually implemented, would result in a truly amazing set of unintended consequences.)

I would vote for Leigh.

In addition to writing political commentary, I write science fiction and fantasy. My book that came out in April 2021, Chaos on CatNet, takes place in a future Minneapolis. It’s a sequel to Catfishing on CatNet and signed copies of both books are usually available from Dreamhaven. You will also be able to get them from Uncle Hugo’s when it reopens at 2716 E 31st St! (and maybe by mail order now? I’m not sure how much mail order Don is doing while getting ready to re-open.)

I do not have a Patreon or Ko-Fi, but you can make a donation to encourage my work! I get a lot of satisfaction watching fundraisers I highlight getting funded (or, in the case of the Movement Voter fundraiser, continuing to raise money past their goal). I explained back in May why I’m fundraising for the Movement Voter PAC and that fundraiser is still active. (Also, I owe some embarrassing readings of my juvenalia to the Internet.)

I also went looking and found two DonorsChoose fundraisers for classrooms at Bethune Community School in North Minneapolis: math manipulatives for pre-K students (this is such a good idea) and a nice book organizer for a first-grade classroom where the shelving is coming apart.

Primary Elections 2022: MN House 67A

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John Thompson is the incumbent; he’s being challenged by Liz Lee, who has the DFL endorsement.

John Thompson (Incumbent)
Liz Lee (DFL-endorsed)

John Thompson was elected in 2020. In July of 2021, he got pulled over, told the cop that he was a state legislator, and produced a Wisconsin driver’s license. He turned out to have maintained a Wisconsin license for years, renewing it in 2005, 2012 and 2020, despite living in Minnesota. (Maintaining a driver’s license in another state is in the category of things I don’t care about people doing most of the time, but you really should not be doing as a state legislator, what the hell.)

In the wake of that, journalists went digging around in his background and turned up four really dramatic and detailed domestic violence allegations and arrests between 2003 and 2010. That same article mentions a disorderly conduct arrest for something that happened at a hospital (“Thompson is currently on trial in Hennepin County for a disorderly conduct case that stemmed from a visit to North Memorial Hospital, where Thompson and others were asked to leave.”) I had actually missed this one — it involved a confrontation at a hospital in 2019, and can I just say, there’s something deeply fucked up about the fact that that incident resulted in charges and a trial when after a previous arrest and “disorderly conduct” conviction for assaulting a girlfriend, she reported to police that he’d broken the phone cord, choked her with his hands, grabbed her and dragged her back inside when she ran away, punched her in the face, and threw her into a table, all in front of her children — that was “referred to child protection and the Dakota County Attorney” and that seems to have been the end of it. Well, also, the police took the woman to a battered women’s shelter.

In September of 2021, the DFL kicked him out of their caucus.

In March of 2022, he did an interview with the Minnesota Reformer, where he talked about the protest outside (police union rep) Bob Kroll’s house at which there were piñatas of Kroll and his wife (journalist Liz Collins) that got beaten with sticks, and how he regrets that.

In April of 2022, his daughter got pulled over by the police for suspected DUI and Thompson came to the scene to scream at the officers. This is based on what Axtell (the St. Paul Chief of Police) said but Axtell basically dared Thompson to release the bodycam footage and Thompson did not do so. (“I wish state law allowed us to release the body worn camera footage. But we can’t at this time. However, Rep. Thompson or his daughter can. And I encourage them to do so.”) (I have some sympathy for a Black man who wants to get to the scene where his daughter has been arrested. I’m less sympathetic to people who are pulled over on suspicion of DUI who refuse to take a Breathalyzer test. The whole situation sounds messy and like Thompson’s intervention escalated things.)

I was curious if anyone had endorsed Thompson this time and checked out his website and was initially very startled to see Hodan Hassan’s name and then realized he’d never updated it after 2020. So all his old endorsements are still listed as if they’re current. I don’t think he has any endorsements.

Liz Lee looks like a nice, normal Democrat. I would absolutely vote for Liz Lee.

In addition to writing political commentary, I write science fiction and fantasy. My book that came out in April 2021, Chaos on CatNet, takes place in a future Minneapolis. It’s a sequel to Catfishing on CatNet and signed copies of both books are usually available from Dreamhaven. You will also be able to get them from Uncle Hugo’s when it reopens at 2716 E 31st St! (and maybe by mail order now? I’m not sure how much mail order Don is doing while getting ready to re-open.)

I do not have a Patreon or Ko-Fi, but you can make a donation to encourage my work! I get a lot of satisfaction watching fundraisers I highlight getting funded (or, in the case of the Movement Voter fundraiser, continuing to raise money past their goal). I explained back in May why I’m fundraising for the Movement Voter PAC and that fundraiser is still active. (Also, I owe some embarrassing readings of my juvenalia to the Internet.)

I also went looking and found two DonorsChoose fundraisers for classrooms at Bethune Community School in North Minneapolis: math manipulatives for pre-K students (this is such a good idea) and a nice book organizer for a first-grade classroom where the shelving is coming apart.

Primary Elections 2022: MN House 62A and 62B

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I am running out of both time and steam but I wanted to hit these two races very quickly (even though Hodan Hasan is unopposed) because thanks to redistricting, this is extra confusing.

Hodan Hasan and Aisha Gomez are trading districts. Hodan Hasan represents 62A, but is running for re-election in 62B, and Aisha Gomez represents 62B but is running for re-election in 62A. This has thrown a lot of people for a loop (and it doesn’t help that Hodan Hasan’s campaign website still says 62A — she’s unopposed in the primary, so I’m guessing updating her campaign website has not been a priority.)

If you live in 62B, Hodan Hasan will appear on the ballot, but she’s unopposed.

If you live in 62A, your ballot will have the following two candidates:

Aisha Gomez (Incumbent, DFL-endorsed)
Osman Ahmed

I would vote for Aisha Gomez. Osman Ahmed is endorsed by Jamal Osman, who’s not one of my favorite local politicians, and by Andrea Jenkins. Aisha Gomez is endorsed by basically everyone else. Also, Osman Ahmed has the same treasurer as Don Samuels, which is not a good sign. (ETA: I asked if there was a way to look this up and there is! Don Samuels’ campaign filings; Osman Ahmed’s campaign filings.)

One of her constituents chimed in on the Twitter thread about this:

And that seems to be a pretty common sentiment: that she’s authentic, a good listener, and a good legislator. I would vote for Aisha if I lived in 62A (and for Hodan if I lived in 62B) and I hope they’re both re-elected.

In addition to writing political commentary, I write science fiction and fantasy. My book that came out in April 2021, Chaos on CatNet, takes place in a future Minneapolis. It’s a sequel to Catfishing on CatNet and signed copies of both books are usually available from Dreamhaven. You will also be able to get them from Uncle Hugo’s when it reopens at 2716 E 31st St! (and maybe by mail order now? I’m not sure how much mail order Don is doing while getting ready to re-open.)

I do not have a Patreon or Ko-Fi, but you can make a donation to encourage my work! I get a lot of satisfaction watching fundraisers I highlight getting funded (or, in the case of the Movement Voter fundraiser, continuing to raise money past their goal). I explained back in May why I’m fundraising for the Movement Voter PAC and that fundraiser is still active. (Also, I owe some embarrassing readings of my juvenalia to the Internet.)

I also went looking and found two DonorsChoose fundraisers for classrooms at Bethune Community School in North Minneapolis: math manipulatives for pre-K students (this is such a good idea) and a nice book organizer for a first-grade classroom where the shelving is coming apart.

Primary Elections 2022: US House 04

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Betty McCollum has a more serious opponent this year than she usually does. On the DFL side of the ballot:

Amane Badhasso
Fasil Moghul
Betty McCollum (DFL-endorsed, incumbent)

The real race here is Amane vs. Betty, but let me take a minute before I dive into that to tell you about Fasil Moghul. His most distinctive position is that he wants a whole lot more war. Way more war.

His Issues page calls for direct military airstrikes on North Korean military installations (“The human rights violations against the great people of North Korea must stop”), direct military airstrikes on Venezuelan military installations (“The human rights violations against the great people of Venezuela must stop”), direct military airstrikes on Syrian military installations (” The human rights violations against the great people of Syria must stop”) and the immediately after that there’s an entry for “Pakistan-India” and I thought holy shit which one does he want to bomb but that one says, “Our hope is to increase B2B (Business to Business) relationships between our country and Pakistan-India. We would also like to see a rise of tech-workers from both countries to help alleviate labor shortages.”

He appears to have no campaign beyond this website. Anyway, I do not recommend voting for him unless you, also, would list “MORE WAR” as a top foreign policy priority.

The actual contest here is between incumbent Betty McCollum and immigrant and organizer Amane Badhasso.

Amane has attacked Betty on a couple of specific points:

  • Betty takes donations from defense-industry lobbyists and other lobbists, while Amane takes zero money from any such groups.
  • She chairs the Defense Subcommittee of the House Appropriations Committee
  • According to Amane, she’s ineffective. (In that article about the race, Amane is quoted as saying, “The main reason why we need a new generation of Democrats and folks who are not beholden to special interests is because we’ve observed time and time again why important legislation that should be supported on behalf of working class families dies. It dies because we send folks like Betty McCollum to Congress.”
  • According to Amane, Betty doesn’t get votes out as well as she should.

“I, unlike my opponent, am pure” is an easy claim to make about fundraising when you’re an underdog challenging a popular incumbent in the primary: you’re not going to be offered any donations that might compromise you.

I think the claim that legislation dies because of people like Betty McCollum is absurd on its face; legislation dies because of Republicans and the actual conservative Democrats, of which there are many. Betty is a cosponsor of the Green New Deal and the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act. There are 435 people in the US House and Betty is not on the “this is why we can’t have nice things” list and the idea that a new person with no seniority is going to be able to get us the stuff Betty hasn’t is not a claim that holds water.

The piece here that I really dove into was the claim about getting out the vote. Someone on Twitter linked me to this site with an interactive map. In 2018, turnout in 04 was 64.3% with a margin of error of plus or minus .6%. In 05 it was 66.4% with a margin of error of plus or minus .8%. This is not a huge difference. (Turnout in 02 and 03 was extremely high but they had competitive congressional races; this is why it’s important for the reps in 04 and 05 to work on turnout regardless. But clearly both Ilhan and Betty are putting in the effort here!)

I like Amane, but replacing a representative comes with a cost for the district that does it, because of the emphasis on seniority in both the House and the Senate. People who’ve served for decades get better committee assignments and more power, which Betty has used to further progressive goals — which does not mean she’s gotten us Medicare for All or all the many other things I would like us to have, because other people in Congress have stood in the way, but has meant things like, “she directed a bunch of defense funding toward cancer research and sexual assault prevention.” (I highlighted those two because they were accomplishments that were much more under her control because she’s the chair of the Defense Subcommittee. She’s also voted the right away on all the things you’ve probably heard of, some of which then stalled out but some of which passed the Senate.) My sense broadly is that a huge amount of St. Paul isn’t even aware that Betty has an opponent, which makes it hard for me to buy the idea that Amane will be better at turning out the vote.

I am planning to vote for Betty McCollum. If you want a younger rep (someone on Twitter said they’re voting for Amane because Betty, who was elected in 2000, has been in office longer than they’ve been alive) then absolutely go ahead and vote for Amane; if you want to send Betty a message that it’s time to start thinking about retirement, go ahead and vote for Amane. (I think “send a message” voting is risky when the opponent is awful, but Amane strikes me as fine, so the risk here is low.)

I got asked by someone who’s confident in the outcome on the DFL side of the ticket whether there’s a Republican running in the primary who’s not a seditionist, which is an interesting question and surprisingly hard to answer. Here’s who’s on the ticket:

Gene Rechtzigel
Jerry Silver
May Lor Xiong (GOP-endorsed)

Gene was the nominee last time, when the City Pages called him a “good old-fashioned solitary crank.” He remains an old-fashioned crank, complete with a website that is both incoherent and illegible. He doesn’t say anything about elections, but was a party in a lawsuit in November 2020 to block election certification.

Jerry Silver is a retired pastor who wrote a book about fighting his congregation to admit a Black student to the private school affiliated with his church — this happened in the 1990s in Illinois. His Priorities page calls for Voter ID, “opposes lawsuits against states that exercise their rights to keep their elections honest,” opposes the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact, and supports a proposal for states to “award their electoral votes along Congressional district lines with the state popular vote winner gaining the two at-large votes.” In other words, he wants to make the effects of gerrymandering worse, and disenfranchise Democrats wherever possible. Regarding Trump’s big lie, and the insurrection on January 6th, I couldn’t find him saying anything at all.

May Lor Xiong is the endorsed Republican candidate. Her Issues page does not mention elections at all and she has ignored people asking for her stance on this on Twitter and Facebook. Her social media is all pretty scrubbed, but I did find her Twitter “likes” to be a little more revealing. She liked a May 11th tweet fron right-wing “comedian” Tim Young saying “81 million votes… and I’ve never seen a Biden hat or shirt in my life.” Also a lot of anti-vax and anti-mask stuff and anti-abortion extremists being smug about the overturn of Roe. So my strong suspicion is that she’s trying to keep her pro-Trump pro-sedition views out of sight as much as possible, but certainly holds them.

May is campaigning heavily on “border security” and made a field trip down to Texas to talk about how we need to finish the wall. Note that she is herself an immigrant who arrived as a refugee at age eight, and she makes a big deal about how her family did this “properly” by applying and waiting and so on. But she also tells a (pretty vivid) story in a video on her website about her mother swimming the Mekong River to escape Laos and get to Thailand — in other words, her parents fled where they were living. Let me be very clear: I 100% endorse their right to do this and I’m glad they did and I’m glad the US (eventually) did the right thing and admitted Hmong families like hers. But refugees fleeing danger and oppression today should also be allowed in.

Anyway. I e-mailed all three candidates and asked them two questions: Do you believe that the Presidential election in 2020 was legitimate? and Would you have voted to uphold or overturn the results? ETA: Jerry Silver, who I was optimistic might not be an insurrectionist, wrote back and said, “Have you watched the film 2000 Mules?” When I said no he said I should watch it and “then we can discuss.” Needless to say, I am not going to pay $20 to watch noted liar Dinesh D’Souza’s conspiracy theorymongering bullshit, but I think he’s told me what I need to know.

Gene demonstrated his seditionist views by signing onto a lawsuit in 2020. Honestly, I find it weird that Jerry’s not being louder about his seditionist views, since that would give him a shot at getting the Trumper votes that May’s leaving on the table by saying the quiet parts quiet. So the answer here is, they’re all terrible; Gene is probably the most chaotic choice, although if May wins the primary, that’ll give the GOP some hope of winning and they’ll pour a lot of money into the race. I’m not sure there’s a lesser evil here. You should absolutely vote for the Democrat in November! Either Amane or Betty will be vastly better than any of the Republicans on the ticket.

In addition to writing political commentary, I write science fiction and fantasy. My book that came out in April 2021, Chaos on CatNet, takes place in a future Minneapolis. It’s a sequel to Catfishing on CatNet and signed copies of both books are usually available from Dreamhaven. You will also be able to get them from Uncle Hugo’s when it reopens at 2716 E 31st St! (and maybe by mail order now? I’m not sure how much mail order Don is doing while getting ready to re-open.)

I do not have a Patreon or Ko-Fi, but you can make a donation to encourage my work! I get a lot of satisfaction watching fundraisers I highlight getting funded (or, in the case of the Movement Voter fundraiser, continuing to raise money past their goal). I explained back in May why I’m fundraising for the Movement Voter PAC and that fundraiser is still active. (Also, I owe some embarrassing readings of my juvenalia to the Internet.)

I also went looking and found two DonorsChoose fundraisers for classrooms at Bethune Community School in North Minneapolis: math manipulatives for pre-K students (this is such a good idea) and a nice book organizer for a first-grade classroom where the shelving is coming apart.

Ramsey County Board of Commissioners, District 6

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This is an open seat and a bunch of people are running, some more seriously than others.

Greg Copeland
Foua-Choua Khang
Clara O. Ware
Dino Guerin
Nick Muhammad
Ying Vang-Pao
Mai Chong Xiong (DFL-endorsed)

Greg Copeland

Greg Copeland is a Republican from the “let me tell you how much I love guns” wing of the party. He filed in Ward 6 because he was in Ward 6 before redistricting, and was dismayed to find out that he now lives in Ward 3. Given this, he would have preferred to run in Ward 3, and has no interest in moving (especially as he’s not going to win). Anyway, don’t vote for him.

Foua-Choua Khang

Foua-Choua Khang’s website was so hard to find, I didn’t run across it until I was researching Dino Guerin and turned it up in a Yahoo News article about the candidates. She works for Blue Cross/Blue Shield as a “Community and County Liaison,” which seems like a relevant position, and she’s worked on health disparities (specifically diabetes) in the Hmong community. She did respond to the East Metro Voter Guide questionnaire and I liked some of her answers: it’s a very business-centric questionnaire but in response to a question about what “employment-related proposals” she’d support and whether she understands that sick time rules are extremely inconvenient for employers (“What steps would you take to understand the impact of a policy on the many types of businesses in Ramsey County and how would you define any exceptions to those policies?”) she notes that her 16-year-old son was required to return to work making sandwiches before his quarantine was finished.

But she has no endorsements and doesn’t seem to be running a particularly active campaign. She looks like she’d probably be good in a lot of jobs, but I would not vote for her.

Clara O. Ware

Clara Ware’s campaign website is a Facebook page that was last updated in March to say that a fundraiser had been cancelled. You can read her responses to the East Metro Voter Guide here. Again, she looks like someone who’d probably be good in a lot of jobs, but I would not vote for her.

Dino Guerin

Dino Guerin was a City Council rep and a County Commissioner back in the 1990s, then crashed and burned with a criminal conviction over bad checks due to gambling debts in 2000. He opted for jail time over a conviction that would keep him from running again, and he’s been trying to make a political comeback on a regular basis ever since. His lone endorsement is Ramsey County Sheriff Bob Fletcher, who I don’t like, and his top issue is crime. I would not vote for Dino.

Nick Muhammad

Nick Muhammed runs a group called Black Civic Network. He has no endorsements listed on his website although this article about the six candidates lists Black Women Rising as an endorsement.

His website uses the term ADOS a lot. This stands for “American Descendent of Slavery,” and it’s a controversial term within the group it purports to describe, since it deliberately separates Black people whose ancestors were brought specifically to the US or future US and sold into slavery from Black people who came here as immigrants (some of whom are also descended from kidnapping victims, especially if they came from the Caribbean.) The Wiki article has a roundup.

Ying Vang-Pao

Ying Vang-Pao and Mai Chong Xiong are the two candidates I think are solid, qualified, and I might want to vote for. Ying Vang-Pao is a daughter of General Vang Pao, a major figure in the Hmong community until his death in 2011. (He had about 25 kids, I discovered as I tried to figure out a comparison to “daughter of General Vang Pao” that non-Hmong readers would grasp, and basically failed.) Ying is endorsed by retiring County Commissioner Jim McDonough along with a number of other notable local political figures. Her background includes political activism, volunteer work, and working with county resources to get needed help for her disabled child. She lists her top three issues as affordable housing, the environment, and public safety.

Mai Chong Xiong (DFL-endorsed)

Mai Chong Xiong is endorsed by the DFL and a wide range of other groups and individuals (most striking to me is that she’s endorsed by both the DSA and by Council Member Jane Prince — typically endorsements tend to sort themselves out by “this person got the lefties, that person got the centrists,” that’s not the case here.) Her background includes working as Council Member Dai Thao’s legislative aide. She lists her top three issues as affordable housing, the environment, and living wage jobs.

I am running out of time because the primary is TUESDAY. I think odds are really high it’ll be Mai Chong Xiong vs. Ying Vang-Pao in the general election and they both look like strong candidates. If I were voting in this race, I think I would cast my ballot for Mai Chong, although when the general rolls around I might take a closer look at Ying. I like the fact that Mai Chong has experience as a legislative assistant (that can be very helpful in terms of knowing how you get things done) and has such a wide range of endorsements (that suggests that a lot of people just think she’d be good at the job.)

In addition to writing political commentary, I write science fiction and fantasy. My book that came out in April 2021, Chaos on CatNet, takes place in a future Minneapolis. It’s a sequel to Catfishing on CatNet and signed copies of both books are usually available from Dreamhaven. You will also be able to get them from Uncle Hugo’s when it reopens at 2716 E 31st St! (and maybe by mail order now? I’m not sure how much mail order Don is doing while getting ready to re-open.)

I do not have a Patreon or Ko-Fi, but you can make a donation to encourage my work! I get a lot of satisfaction watching fundraisers I highlight getting funded (or, in the case of the Movement Voter fundraiser, continuing to raise money past their goal). I explained back in May why I’m fundraising for the Movement Voter PAC and that fundraiser is still active. (Also, I owe some embarrassing readings of my juvenalia to the Internet.)

I also went looking and found two DonorsChoose fundraisers for classrooms at Bethune Community School in North Minneapolis: math manipulatives for pre-K students (this is such a good idea) and a nice book organizer for a first-grade classroom where the shelving is coming apart.

Primary Election 2022: Ramsey County Commissioner, District 5

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Rafael Ortega is the incumbent and has two opponents, neither of whom I imagine he’s worried about. Two people will advance.

Rafael E. Ortega (incumbent, DFL-endorsed)
Bill Hosko
Charles S. Barklind

Charles Barklind

The most detailed information on Charles Barklind still seems to be my writeup from 2014. He doesn’t appear to have responded to the questionnaire from the East Metro Voter Guide. Once again, this does not appear to be someone who’s actually running for office.

Bill Hosko

Bill Hosko is a perennial candidate. In 2015 he ran for Ward 2 City Council on a “no parking meters” platform; in 2019 he ran for Ward 2 City Council on a “we should spend millions of dollars to install turnstiles for the light rail, and also bring back fireworks, and also lower taxes” platform; and in 2021 he ran for Mayor on a “build turnstiles, crack down on shoplifting and shame Mayor Carter for having weeds in his yard” platform.

His platform this year seems to be “crime is bad and we should do something about it, lower taxes, make a plan for the old West Publishing site, create railway attractions at Union Station so it stops losing money, and bring back Grand Old Day, Taste of Minnesota, Fourth of July Fireworks, and Cinco de Mayo.” Also he still wants turnstiles. You can read his East Metro Voter Guide responses here.

Rafael E. Ortega

Rafael Ortega is doing fine. My complaints about county-level stuff in Ramsey County are all things that are not overseen by the county board. Also, his opponents are cranks. You can read his East Metro Voter Guide responses here.

I will be voting for Rafael Ortega and if you live in my district I’d encourage you to do the same!

In addition to writing political commentary, I write science fiction and fantasy. My book that came out in April 2021, Chaos on CatNet, takes place in a future Minneapolis. It’s a sequel to Catfishing on CatNet and signed copies of both books are usually available from Dreamhaven. You will also be able to get them from Uncle Hugo’s when it reopens at 2716 E 31st St! (and maybe by mail order now? I’m not sure how much mail order Don is doing while getting ready to re-open.)

I do not have a Patreon or Ko-Fi, but you can make a donation to encourage my work! I get a lot of satisfaction watching fundraisers I highlight getting funded (or, in the case of the Movement Voter fundraiser, continuing to raise money past their goal). I explained back in May why I’m fundraising for the Movement Voter PAC and that fundraiser is still active. (Also, I owe some embarrassing readings of my juvenalia to the Internet.)

I also went looking and found two DonorsChoose fundraisers for classrooms at Bethune Community School in North Minneapolis: math manipulatives for pre-K students (this is such a good idea) and a nice book organizer for a first-grade classroom where the shelving is coming apart.

Primary Election 2022: Minnesota Senate District 62

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Two years ago, Omar Fateh beat long-time incumbent Jeff Hayden in an upset in the primary (and coasted to victory in the general — the real contest for a Minneapolis legislative seat is almost always in the primary). Here’s my post from two years ago; I endorsed Fateh. To quickly recap: Hayden had been in that seat for quite a while, had been implicated in a small scale financial scandal, and Fateh had done a terrific job organizing and door knocking.

This year, Fateh has an opponent:

Omar Fateh (DFL-endorsed, incumbent)
Shaun Laden

(Cut for length.)

Continue reading →

Primary Elections 2022: Minnesota House District 65B

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I’m going to do another easy one. This is an open seat; the incumbent is not running. This district includes downtown Saint Paul, the Westside neighborhood (which, for the uninitiated, is the bit of Saint Paul directly south of downtown — it’s Westside because it’s the west side of the Mississippi River), and I think some of West Saint Paul (which is its own city and should not be confused with either the Westside neighborhood of Saint Paul, or the western portion of Saint Paul.) If you live in West Saint Paul and are looking for more information on your own races, there is an excellent voter guide at the West Saint Paul Reader.

There are two people running in this primary.

María Isa Pérez-Hedges (DFL-endorsed)
Anna Botz

María Isa is a musician, progressive Democrat, and insulin organizer (she has Type I diabetes) who worked to pass the Alec Smith Emergency Insulin Act. She’s been endorsed by the DFL, all the related organizations, and by an array of both progressive and centrist-leaning Democrats.

Anna Botz’s website immediately sent up a red flag for me when she said, “I identify politically with our parents’ generation of Democrat (think JFK).” I mean, I like JFK fine, but when someone wants to say that they’re DEFINITELY THE OLD FASHIONED SORT OF DEMOCRAT NOT THE MODERN KIND OF DEMOCRAT they’re signaling something and it’s almost certainly something I do not like. In her case apparently she’s saying that she’s opposed to abortion rights. (Weirdly, she doesn’t mention that MCCL endorsement on her website, and according to people who’ve met her campaigning, she doesn’t talk about it….almost like she knows it wouldn’t be popular with the people whose support she needs?) There’s more, but frankly, that’s sufficient!

I would absolutely vote for María Isa, who looks great!

In addition to writing political commentary, I write science fiction and fantasy. My book that came out in April 2021, Chaos on CatNet, takes place in a future Minneapolis. It’s a sequel to Catfishing on CatNet and signed copies of both books are usually available from Dreamhaven. You will also be able to get them from Uncle Hugo’s when it reopens at 2716 E 31st St! (and maybe by mail order now? I’m not sure how much mail order Don is doing while getting ready to re-open.)

I do not have a Patreon or Ko-Fi, but you can make a donation to encourage my work! I get a lot of satisfaction watching fundraisers I highlight getting funded (or, in the case of the Movement Voter fundraiser, continuing to raise money past their goal). I explained back in May why I’m fundraising for the Movement Voter PAC and that fundraiser is still active. (Also, I owe some embarrassing readings of my juvenalia to the Internet.)

I also went looking and found two DonorsChoose fundraisers for classrooms at Bethune Community School in North Minneapolis: math manipulatives for pre-K students (this is such a good idea) and a nice book organizer for a first-grade classroom where the shelving is coming apart.

Primary Elections 2022: Minnesota Secretary of State

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This is another easy one.

On the DFL side of the ballot, your options are:

Steve Simon
Steve Carlson

Steve Simon
Steve Simon is the incumbent and I think he’s done a fantastic job. A+, absolutely voting for him, no question.

Steve Carlson
Steve Carlson’s website includes the year “2018” in it and also “forUSSenate,” so apparently he still hasn’t taken the free advice I offered him back in 2014, when he was running with a website that had the year “2010” in it, which is that if running for offices is your hobby, you should register a website that names neither a specific office nor gives a specific year.

Anyway. He ran for Senate as an Independence candidate in 2014. He ran for the 4th district US House seat in 2016 and the main thing I took from his website is that he’s not a good rapper. (He’s an old, white, conservative dude, so this should not be surprising.) In 2018 he ran in the DFL Primary for Senate against Amy Klobuchar and in 2020 he ran in the DFL Primary for Senate against Tina Smith.

In order to run in a partisan primary, he had to sign an affidavit of candidacy affirming that he’d either gone to his DFL Precinct Caucus in 2022 or that he intended to vote mainly for Democrats in November. He says he went to the caucus (I asked) and I am more willing to believe that Steve actually went to a DFL caucus than AJ Kern, because over on his Facebook he has a post that at least mentions caucuses, and his latest hobbyhorse (which he has ranted about over and over and over at length and in detail on Twitter) is that the DFL has a rule requiring gender balance for delegates elected to the State Convention, which makes me think he tried to become a delegate to the State Convention. (Or some slightly more selective convention, it might not have been the state one.)

Steve’s biggest obstacle in being a DFL delegate is not his race or sex but the fact that he’s an anti-gay, anti-Muslim Trump supporter with complete contempt for the bodily autonomy or human rights of women. Democrats mostly do not choose as delegates people who are this far out of step with DFL principles. Do not vote for him.

On the Republican side of the ballot you’ll find:

Erik van Mechelen
Kim Crockett (GOP endorsed)

If you take a look at Erik’s website, you will find a website devoted to Trump’s Big Lie, that Joe Biden did not win the 2020 election. (Also, he wants to ban all machine counts and require a hand count of every election. I will note that we did a painstaking hand count a few years back and it took a really long time, cost a lot of money, and the Democrat won.) If you look at Kim’s website, you’ll find a bunch of doublespeak about “safeguarding” and “protecting” and “empowering.” Just to be clear, Kim is just as much of an election denier as Erik — she just knows how to say the quiet part quietly.

ETA: She managed to get fired from her job at the Center for the American Experiment (an ultraconservative area think tank) back in 2019 by being openly racist in an interview with the New York Times. “I think of America, the great assimilator, as a rubber band, but with this — we’re at the breaking point. These aren’t people coming from Norway, let’s put it that way. These people are very visible.” She issued an apology at the time, but doubled down in April of this year.

The Republican party has made it really, really, really clear that they have complete contempt for the entire concept of government of, for, and by the people. No one should trust them with elections, in Minnesota or any other state.

In addition to writing political commentary, I write science fiction and fantasy. My book that came out in April 2021, Chaos on CatNet, takes place in a future Minneapolis. It’s a sequel to Catfishing on CatNet and signed copies of both books are usually available from Dreamhaven. You will also be able to get them from Uncle Hugo’s when it reopens at 2716 E 31st St! (and maybe by mail order now? I’m not sure how much mail order Don is doing while getting ready to re-open.)

I do not have a Patreon or Ko-Fi, but you can make a donation to encourage my work! I get a lot of satisfaction watching fundraisers I highlight getting funded (or, in the case of the Movement Voter fundraiser, continuing to raise money past their goal). I explained back in May why I’m fundraising for the Movement Voter PAC and that fundraiser is still active. (Also, I owe some embarrassing readings of my juvenalia to the Internet.)

I also went looking and found two DonorsChoose fundraisers for classrooms at Bethune Community School in North Minneapolis: math manipulatives for pre-K students (this is such a good idea) and a nice book organizer for a first-grade classroom where the shelving is coming apart.

Primary Elections 2022: Minneapolis School Board (District 5)

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Confusingly, all the school boards have district numbers (Minneapolis is District 1) but also Minneapolis is split into 6 geographical areas for Park Board and School District seats. This seat is on some ballots in South Minneapolis but not others. This was made extra confusing by redistricting — if you’re uncertain, you can view your sample ballot on the Secretary of State’s site by putting in your zip code and address. This seat is currently held by Nelson Inz, who is not running for re-election.

There are four people on the ballot:

Laurelle Myhra
Leslie Haugland-Smith
Elena Condos
Lori Norvell

Laurelle Myhra

Laurelle Myhra is an Anishinabe woman who directs a wellness clinic; she’s a licensed family therapist and one of her top priorities is “culturally-relevant and trauma-informed education and curriculum.” She is vice chair of the American Indian Parent Advisory Committee.

One hesitation I had about her is that she describes herself as Christian on her first page, and that can be a red flag for anti-trans bigotry specifically. I e-mailed her to ask, and she responded to say, “I do not personally support discrimination of LGBT or any other marginalized group. In fact, I’m seeking endorsement by a LGBT advocacy group.” Which reassured me a bit about her intentions if not her specific expertise there. But — she would bring a lot of expertise about the needs and traumas of Indigenous kids (and expertise about trauma-informed education generally, which I think would be genuinely useful right now.)

Leslie Haugland-Smith

Leslie Haugland-Smith wrote a letter to the editor about the schools that was published in the Star Tribune in June. I can find nothing else about her: she doesn’t seem to be on either Facebook or LinkedIn. Definitely falls into the category of “not actually running.” EDITED TO ADD: the coworker of one of her kids saw this post and sent me a link to her website, so I’ve added the link! She wants to increase enrollment, lobby the legislature for more money, and ensure that students graduate “with a sense of responsibility and purpose.”

Elena Condos

Elena Condos listed her LinkedIn page as her campaign site when she filled out her affidavit of candidacy, and when I started researching this, that’s the only page I could find. (I have complained a few times about people using their personal Facebook as their only campaign conduit so let me just say — LinkedIn is so much worse.) From this I could see that she really liked hashtags (#powerwoman #changemaker) but not much else.

She’s now got a website up, where she has an acronym to tell you what’s important to her (“TISA: Transparency, Innovation, Security, Achievement.”) She goes on to elaborate on those slightly — for example, “Security enhanced learning: Adapting our schools and staff to engage with problems before they become a police event.” That could be either very good or very bad and without more information on what she even means here, it’s hard to say. She has a management background and says, “I have over 20 years of experience in organizational management from partnering to create a strategic vision to day-to-day people and operation leadership.” My response to everything in that statement: no thank you.

Lori Norvell

Lori Norvell is the endorsed DFL candidate. She’s a parent and also worked for the Minneapolis Public schools for almost ten years as a sub, a special education assistant, and a teacher. According to her LinkedIn, she quit last year and now works as an Executive Assistant for the Hennepin Theater Trust, which makes me think she’d probably have some insight into burnout, retention, and teacher support. Her priorities look solid and she has a ton of endorsements.

So — okay, I’m going to note that on August 9th, we’re having a primary. The two top finishers will go on to the general election in November. I would vote for Laurelle Myhra in the primary election while acknowledging that I would probably vote for Lori in the general. I am confident that Lori will advance to the general so the question is, who among the other candidates will bring issues to the table that I’d like to hear discussed before November? And the answer is absolutely Laurelle, with her expertise in trauma. Absolutely. So that’s who I’d vote for in August.

In addition to writing political commentary, I write science fiction and fantasy. My book that came out in April 2021, Chaos on CatNet, takes place in a future Minneapolis. It’s a sequel to Catfishing on CatNet and signed copies of both books are usually available from Dreamhaven. You will also be able to get them from Uncle Hugo’s when it reopens at 2716 E 31st St! (and maybe by mail order now? I’m not sure how much mail order Don is doing while getting ready to re-open.)

I do not have a Patreon or Ko-Fi, but you can make a donation to encourage my work! I get a lot of satisfaction watching fundraisers I highlight getting funded (or, in the case of the Movement Voter fundraiser, continuing to raise money past their goal). I explained back in May why I’m fundraising for the Movement Voter PAC and that fundraiser is still active. (Also, I owe some embarrassing readings of my juvenalia to the Internet.)

I also went looking and found two DonorsChoose fundraisers for classrooms at Bethune Community School in North Minneapolis: math manipulatives for pre-K students (this is such a good idea) and a nice book organizer for a first-grade classroom where the shelving is coming apart.