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I am, at the almost last possible minute, registering for the online caucuses. I have to choose up to five subcaucuses and have done basically no research other than to briefly look up the people who've contacted me.
Live in St. Paul? You can register for the online caucus and the online ward and city conventions here:
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScbdluw1_HnDg5s8XeZ-vAZflhIAQuQNtMzOz_54yBCN24XWw/viewform
I assume Minneapolis is similar but you'll want to google "Minneapolis DFL" instead of "St Paul DFL."
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScbdluw1_HnDg5s8XeZ-vAZflhIAQuQNtMzOz_54yBCN24XWw/viewform
I assume Minneapolis is similar but you'll want to google "Minneapolis DFL" instead of "St Paul DFL."
I do not normally do endorsements for caucuses and conventions. It's normal for the field to shift significantly as people abide by endorsement and drop out, and new people get in, so it would be a lot of extra work.
Also, if you're a delegate to your city convention or Senate District convention, candidates will CALL YOU UP and try to win your support. You do not need ME to answer your questions, you can ask the candidates yourself.
Anyway, I'm just going to go down the list of potential subcaucuses because I might as well think out loud. Feel free to chime in with your own opinions.
"The whole endorsement process is bullshit" is a valid opinion. I am doing this in large part so I can usefully compare the online process and see if I think we should do this as a permanent replacement to in-person caucuses and conventions.
Caucus 1: Uncommitted Labor.
Caucus 2: Halla for SPPS. This is a school board candidate, Halla Henderson. https://www.hallaforspps.com/
Halla is a young (she graduated from UST in 2019) woman of color who works with teens in her day job. If she says anywhere what her day job is, I didn't find it. It might be this: https://mnyouth.net/about/staff/
Endorsements include Erin Murphy, Kaoly Her, newly-elected legislator Athena Hollins, and a number of high school students.
Nothing in her platform stands out as particularly unusual. (She stands for lots of nice things, but that's generally true of people who run for school board, especially if they're trying for DFL endorsement.)
Caucus 3: Uncommitted Election Day Off! Replace President's Day with Election Day.
The people I know who have a hard time finding time to vote on Election Day mostly work in retail.
Retail holds a bunch of big sales on President's Day. I am deeply skeptical that turning the first Tuesday in November into a government holiday is going to help people vote.
Retail holds a bunch of big sales on President's Day. I am deeply skeptical that turning the first Tuesday in November into a government holiday is going to help people vote.
I think Minnesota's setup with extensive early voting works pretty well, and if there are people for whom it's not working, we should look into ways to expand early and no-excuses absentee voting.
Caucus 4: Melvin Carter for All of Us
Melvin Carter is the current mayor of St. Paul. I think he's done OK. Better than Jacob Frey, anyway.
Melvin Carter is the current mayor of St. Paul. I think he's done OK. Better than Jacob Frey, anyway.
Caucus 5: Uncommitted One Saint Paul.
I have no idea what this is for and Google did not help me.
I have no idea what this is for and Google did not help me.
Caucus 6: Uriah Ward for School Board.
Uriah Ward has been texting me since February. He's by far the school board candidate with the most organization. https://www.uriahward.com/
Uriah Ward has been texting me since February. He's by far the school board candidate with the most organization. https://www.uriahward.com/
Not surprisingly, part of his background is as "the longest-serving organizer on the successful Vote Yes for St. Paul Kids campaign in 2018" (this was a school funding referendum.) He briefly worked as a teacher and now works as a Financial Aid counselor at Augsburg.
(It's not surprising because if you spent a lot of time organizing for one campaign, you know who to call once it's time to find people to volunteer for your own campaign.)
His issues list includes, "Make Critical Race Studies a requirement for our students," which made me wonder if he has a clearer idea of what "critical race studies" is than the people who demonize it? (To be fair: probably. But he does not explain it on his website.)
His issues also includes "Ensure that sex education programs focus on consent and are LGBTQ+ inclusive," which I approve of, and he has some ideas for recruiting families into or back to SPPS. The other stuff in his platform is kinda the same as everyone else's.
Did I mention he's a white guy? It looks like I did not mention he's a white guy.
Caucus 7: Dora Jones Robinson for the Kids
I assumed this was a school board campaign. It's not, it's a mayoral campaign. https://dorajonesforsaintpaul.com/
I assumed this was a school board campaign. It's not, it's a mayoral campaign. https://dorajonesforsaintpaul.com/
She's an anti-gun violence activist and her website is pretty terrible.
Caucus 8: zoe4spps https://sites.google.com/view/zoe4spps/home
Zoe graduated from high school in 2016. Things I did not find on Zoe's website that I expect to be able to find on candidate sites:
* a last name
* any particular agenda.
* a last name
* any particular agenda.
Caucus 9: Uncommitted Keep St. Paul Home / Rent Stabilization
Caucus 10: Uncommitted Internet Equity
Caucus 11: Jim Vue for SPPS Board of Education https://www.jimvueforspps.org/
Jim is an incumbent but only barely; he was elected in 2020 in a special election to fill in after the really tragic and untimely death of Marny Xiong.
Caucus 12: Uncommitted Transform St. Paul Police Practices.
Caucus 13: James Farnsworth for School Board. https://www.jamesforspps.com/
James is another REALLY YOUNG CANDIDATE. He ran last fall and I liked him then.
He's the only school board candidate so far whose website talked in specific detail about COVID and recovering from COVID as a district/community.
He's the only school board candidate so far whose website talked in specific detail about COVID and recovering from COVID as a district/community.
Caucus 14: Uncommitted.
Caucus 15: Clayton for School Board https://www.claytonforschoolboard.com/
Clayton is a parent organizer who's done the mix of coaching, grantwriting, and advocacy that you often see in parents who run for the board. https://www.claytonforschoolboard.com/meetclayton
His issues page is mostly very generic and filled with goals that everyone shares with no information on how he's going to achieve them, like
"Stop the enrollment losses in SPPS, and begin to increase enrollment in SPPS" and "Address and improve academic outcomes for black and brown students."
The unique stuff in his platform:
* Make ethnic studies a graduation requirement for all SPPS students
* Create an educational path into the trades
* Install solar panels
* Make ethnic studies a graduation requirement for all SPPS students
* Create an educational path into the trades
* Install solar panels
For anyone who's in favor of the ethnic studies requirement:
Every single requirement you add will lower your graduation rate. No matter how reasonable, no matter how easy it is to complete.
Every single requirement you add will lower your graduation rate. No matter how reasonable, no matter how easy it is to complete.
Minneapolis figured out at some point how many graduations per year their extra gym requirement was costing them and it was a LOT. Way more than you'd expect given that the 2nd semester of gym could be completed ONLINE and was basically "here is a hoop; please jump through it."
Caucus (every single one of these should have been "subcaucus," whoops) 16:
Uncommitted Food for All / No Hunger MN
Uncommitted Food for All / No Hunger MN
Subcaucus 17: Uncommitted Environment / Climate Action.
I do not actually know how many school board seats are open? OK, Ballotpedia says it's three. The actual election isn't until November, this is just for the DFL endorsement, which is frequently decisive in a school board race.
I don't know if those three seats include the one that was vacated by Steve Marchese back in February, or not.
Anyway, it looks like overall St. Paul residents are more satisfied with Melvin Carter than Minneapolis residents are with Jacob Frey.
