by Erik Hare
It happens every year. Halloween is over, and we’re all in the right mood for … an election? Yes, the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November is Election Day in Saint Paul, every year. The even numbered years are for Presidents, Senators, Representatives, and the Minnesota Legislature, while the odd numbered years we hold the local elections for School Board, City Council and Mayor. The party doesn’t stop until there’s only one winner for each office.
This year, our Mayor Chris Coleman is up for re-election. His challenger is Eva Ng, a local businesswoman. Coleman represents the DFL (Democrats) while Ng is running as an Independent, also endorsed by the Republican party. There’s only two of them because we had a non-partisan primary in September that narrows the field to the top two, regardless of what party they claim. It’s a system we’ve had in place since the 70s.
We hold the local elections on odd numbered years so that they don’t get lost among all the other races at the Minnesota and US levels. Turnout isn’t as high, which leads some people to wonder if the extra expense is really worth it. There are always a few ideas around to change how we do things to make it better.
This year, the hottest part of the ballot is whether we should keep doing things as we have been, or if we should scrap the primary in favor of Instant Runoff Voting (IRV). In this system, all the candidates would be ranked by each voter so that if you select as your first choice someone who comes in dead last, the election officials can automatically go on to a next round where your vote is then given to your second choice, and so on. Eventually someone has a majority and is declared the winner.
Minneapolis is voting for Mayor and City Council this way for the first time this year, so we’ll see how it goes. What’s interesting in this election is how much attention the voting method has gotten when the actual races are generating very little heat.
If it’s true that all politics is local, local politics is plain personal. Most of our local races turn on opinions of the people running, no matter what anyone tells you. In Saint Paul, we tend to know the local candidates well enough to feel that we have a personal connection to them. Since most are DFLers (Democrats) of one kind or another, or Independents, the issues tend to be more esoteric than most people worry about. It usually comes down to whether we like or trust the candidates we see in front of us.
While the Mayoral election is more or less a referendum on Chris Coleman, most people don’t seem to have a strong feeling about him one way or another. Like cities everywhere, Saint Paul is under a lot of budget pressure that has left us a bit shell-shocked. The result is a pretty quiet election, both for the Mayor and the City Councilmembers that are up this year. We’re finding it much more interesting to debate if we want to keep doing it the same way rather than worry about the people who fill the offices.
One thing we know for sure, however, is that when we do this again we’ll have the election just after Halloween – as we have an election every year. Whether it’s a trick or a treat, it’s part living in Saint Paul. If you live in our great city, please remember to read up on what’s at stake and do your part! It may not be as much fun as handing out candy, but it’s still a great tradition.
