This is an enhanced version of my sample ballot for Tuesday. I put one together every election for me, my husband and anyone else who wants to trust my political judgment. I read the candidates’ statements, look at endorsements, and Google for red flags. This isn’t so important for nationwide or statewide elections, but it’s critical for positions like school board and open judges’ seats, which don’t get much coverage.
I’m sharing my sample ballot with a few more people than usual this year. In order to make it more useful, I’ve included races in which I’m not eligible to vote but about which I have strong opinions (uncontested seats are not included). Each pick contains a link or links to my rationale for the choice. Not all of them were written by me, but I agree with them all.
Enter your address here to find out where you vote and who’s on your ballot. Also has links to candidate profiles.
Here are my picks:
U.S. President: Barack Obama [why]
U.S. Senate: Al Franken [why and why]
Supreme Court Associate Justice, Seat 3: Paul H. Anderson [why]
Supreme Court Associate Justice, Seat 4: Lorie Skjerven Gildea [why]
Appeals Court Judge, Seat 16: Terri J. Stoneburner [why]
Sales Tax Amendment: No [see below]
U.S. House, District 1: Tim Walz [why]
U.S. House, District 2: Steve Sarvi [why and why]
U.S. House, District 3: Ashwin Madia [why and why]
U.S. House, District 4: Betty McCollum [why]
U.S. House, District 5: Keith Ellison [why]
U.S. House, District 6: El Tinklenberg [are you kidding me? why and why and why]
U.S. House, District 7: Collin Peterson [highly effective incumbent]
U.S. House, District 8: Jim Oberstar [highly effective incumbent]
Minnesota House, Seat 50B: Kate Knuth [effective incumbent]
Minnesota House, Seat 51A: Shawn Hamilton [why]
Minnesota House, Seat 51B: Tom Tillberry [why]
Minnesota House, Seat 61A: Karen Clark [effective incumbent, technolibertarian opponent]
Minnesota House, Seat 66B: Alice Hausman [effective incumbent, opponent running only as non-incumbent]
Minnesota House, Seat 67A: Tim Mahoney [why]
District Court Judge, 4th District Court, Seat 9: Philip D. Bush [why]
District Court Judge, 4th District Court, Seat 53: Jane Ranum [see below]
District Court Judge, 4th District Court, Seat 58: James T. Swenson [highly effective incumbent]
Hennepin County Soil and Water Supervisor, Seat 3: James Wisker [see below]
Hennepin County Soil and Water Supervisor, Seat 5: Karl Hanson [see below]
Hennepin County Commissioner, District 5: Randy Johnson [no serious opponent]
Hennepin County Commissioner, District 6: Jan Callison [more direct experience]
Minneapolis Schools Operating Levy: Yes [why]
Minneapolis Schools Referendum: No [why]
Minneapolis School Board (3): Carla Bates, Jill Davis, Lydia Lee [why]
Osseo School Board (3): Jennifer DeJournett, Dean Henke, Teresa Lunt [why and why]
Annandale School Board (3): Bryan Bruns, Michael J. Dougherty, Michelle R. Miller [see below]
Lakeville School Board (3): Judy Kelliher, Kathy Lewis, Ron Schieck [see below]
Other Elections: Let me know if you don’t see your school board here and want it included. I’ve included those where I know I have readers, but I’m happy to look at others.
My Reasons
Sales Tax Amendment (Legacy Amendment): I’m voting no on this one for two reasons. One is that even in Minnesota, where we exempt clothing and much food, sales taxes are still regressive taxes. The other is that, barring an emergency, I want to keep the anti-tax magical-thinking idiots accountable for their votes. We’re just not facing that kind of an emergency in Minnesota right now. Update: See the comments for someone who disagrees with me for some pretty good reasons.
District Court Judge, 4th District Court, Seat 53
Both of these candidates are highly qualified, and either would be a good choice. I chose Ranum, frankly, because she is endorsed by more judges.
Hennepin County Soil and Water Supervisor, Seat 3
There are only two credible candidates in this race. Wor
kcuff is running on an anti-gay-marriage platform (WTF?). Klatte is talking about environmental issues, at least, but does not appear to have a grasp of what the job entails. I chose Wisker over Torell because this is obviously Wisker’s passion. His degree and work experience relate directly to the responsibilities of this position.
Hennepin County Soil and Water Supervisor, Seat 5
While I’m not thrilled with Hanson’s statement of priorities, his statement is at least readable. Beck provides no indication that he knows what this job entails.
School Board Elections
My priorities in choosing school board candidates are as follows. I eliminate anyone who is trying to use the school board as a platform for noneducational issues or who otherwise demonstrates that they don’t understand or don’t respect the position they’re running for. I watch very carefully for the buzzwords that indicate an attempt to inject religion into the classroom or to manage school spending strictly to keep taxes down. I give a premium for nonprofit and governmental board service.
School Levies
I’m not a fan of these, as I think school funding is a burden and a privilege that should be shared generally. However, as artificially enhanced property values fall and in the absence of a recognition at the state or federal level that unfunded mandates are a real problem, many of these school districts find themselves in immediate trouble. Many of the states levy requests are renewals, others are required to meet the needs of growing districts or aging school buildings. I haven’t seen one of these on which I wouldn’t vote “yes.”