Kevin D. Hendricks's Blog, page 18

Blogging the Ballot: West St. Paul 2018 Voter’s Guide

For the past several years I’ve been blogging about local elections. I’ve tried to stay quiet about broader politics and avoid stupid comments, but this year I couldn’t help myself. Well, I hope I avoided most stupid comments, but I couldn’t stay quiet about what was happening in our democracy.

So this year, instead of just blogging about West St. Paul’s races, I found myself blogging about the entire ballot. From city council to U.S. Senator, I covered it all. 18 posts in 18 days (plus a lot...

2018 Minnesota Secretary of State: John Howe vs. Steve Simon

In a democratic country where the people are supposed to have a voice in government, the vote should be sacred. It is a right that we should protect and encourage. We need to ensure only citizens are voting, but there should be no other hurdles to the voting booth.

That’s why voting for the secretary of state is pretty important. They safeguard our elections and are the frontlines of democracy.

The State of Voting

I’m not a fan of anything that makes it harder to vote. There have been efforts...

2018 Minnesota State Auditor: Julie Blaha vs. Pam Myhra

What does the auditor do? They’re in charge of making sure local governments spend their money properly. Auditor is supposed to be a role focused on transparency and good government. That’s something we value in Minnesota and historically have had.

Rebecca Otto is the current auditor and has served since 2007. She opted to run for governor and dropped out after losing the DFL endorsement.

Fun fact: One of Minnesota’s early auditors when we were still a territory was Socrates Nelson. Now there...

2018 Minnesota House 52A: Rick Hansen

Control of the Minnesota House is at stake this year, which could mean movement on issues such as gun safety, sexual misconduct, and the environment. In District 52A, I’ll be voting for Rick Hansen.

District 52A is West St. Paul, Mendota, Lilydale, and the northern part of South St. Paul.

I live in 52A and will be focusing on that race, though it’s not much of a race. 52B, on the other hand, is pretty tight. It was decided in 2016 by 121 votes. I think challenger Ruth Richardson will be a str...

2018 Minnesota Governor’s Race: Johnson vs. Walz

I’ve been following the governor’s race in Minnesota for more than a year. Initially I liked Rebecca Otto, but after the DFL endorsement I supported Erin Murphy and became pretty involved in her campaign. The primary loss was tough, and I’ve been much quieter about the governor’s race.

We’ve got Jeff Johnson facing off against Tim Walz.

I’ll be honest: Another older white guy for governor isn’t that exciting to me (but let’s be more honest—excitement isn’t what we need in government). Though...

2018 Minnesota Senate Races: Klobuchar & Smith

There are two U.S. Senate seats on the ballot for Minnesota this year, thanks to the resignation of Al Franken.

Incumbent Amy Klobuchar is up for reelection and is facing state representative Jim Newberger (and Green Party candidate Paula Overby, whom I’d ignore except she served as a spoiler in the Second Congressional race in 2016).

Governor Mark Dayton appointed his Lieutenant Governor Tina Smith to fill Franken’s seat, so Smith is sort of the incumbent. She’s facing state Senator Karin Ho...

Minnesota’s Second Congressional Race: Angie Craig vs. Jason Lewis

I’ve written a lot about the 2018 election, but it’s mostly been local races. I’m hesitant to write about the federal races just because so much ink has already been spilled. I’m not sure I have a lot to add. But I guess I’ll wade in and say why I’m voting for Angie Craig.

Minnesota’s Second Congressional District

In 2016 I was not very fired up about Angie Craig. I agreed with her on the issues, but I didn’t see a lot in her campaign that excited me. I’m not sure how much of that was simply...

2018 Minnesota Judicial Races: Statewide & 1st District

Voting for judges is always kind of weird. Usually it’s the back of the ballot and there are a flood of names in uncontested races. It often feels like it doesn’t matter. But then there are a few contested races, and it definitely matters. Unfortunately, no one has talked about it, so if you haven’t done your research (and brought it to the polls), these judicial races can be challenging.

I’m looking at the specific judicial races on my ballot. This does not cover all judicial races in Minnes...

2018 Dakota County Commissioners: Kathleen Gaylord vs. Todd Podgorski

County commissioner? Now there’s a race people don’t know much about and aren’t very excited about. While this can be a snoozer of a race, it’s important because county services really fill in some of the gaps between the state and the city.

Here in district two (West St. Paul, South St. Paul, Sunfish Lake, and parts of Inver Grove Heights), incumbent Commissioner Kathleen Gaylord is facing South St. Paul city council member Todd Podgorski.

I won’t pretend to be thoroughly up to speed on all...

2018 Minnesota Attorney General: Keith Ellison vs. Doug Wardlow

I’ve tried writing about the Minnesota attorney general race, and I haven’t been able to do it justice. We have extreme conservative Doug Wardlow or accused abuser Keith Ellison.

Unfortunately, I think that’s what this campaign has come down to. While I think Ellison is an inspiring candidate, all that matters is what I believe about the allegations against him.

And so I’m a reluctant vote for Keith Ellison. I didn’t vote for him in the primary. I don’t want to vote for him now. But it’s a bi...