Of all the races I’ve written about so far, I find this one the most baffling.

On the ballot:

Blong Yang (DFL incumbent)
Jeremiah Ellison (DFL endorsed)
Raeisha (RA) Williams (Democratic Party)
Cathy Spann (DFL)

When you’re running for office (and it’s not, you know, Soil & Water Board), there are certain things you should plan to do if you’re actively campaigning. Typically, if you get a questionnaire from a group, you fill it out and send it back for their voter guide. This is a good idea even if you don’t think this group is going to endorse you, because that voter guide goes online and will be read by people from all over the political spectrum. If you get invited to a forum where you’re going to get questions about your positions, you go and participate. You hold events where voters can meet you, and organize events for your volunteers to doorknock and drop lit.

My usual bare-bones test for “is this person even running for the office, or are they just hanging out on the ballot?”) is, “Do they have a website with information about them, a donations link, and a way to volunteer?” All four of these candidates pass this test.

But only two of them are filling out questionnaires, going to forums, and holding events. And neither one of them is the incumbent.

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