Right Wing Danger Zones next week

Even if you don't have an election next week you are needed to stop the far-right GOP from doing what they always do – which is creeping on to our school boards and municipal offices through city elections. The GOP can't get much of a foothold here statewide (in the metro area especially) but they do a super job of slipping under the radar onto park boards, school boards, city councils, and even mayoral offices. Now that we're all a little more on top of things (right?) that ends with this municipal election.

SO: please read up on these danger zones and text/call/email your friends in those areas. These things come down to literally a handful of votes, and that buddy you forget to text could actually be the difference between a Trumpocolypse in Bloomington or relative sanity and safety. Let's not forget, municipal electeds decide a whole lot of things, including sanctuary status, how the police are trained (or not), and how our kids are educated. In fact, it's probably our most impactful election and most ignored. That too needs to end this election cycle.

To make matters tougher, there is no "DFL" or "GOP" designation in these supposedly-but-not-really non-partisan races, so making sure people know what's up and what name to look for is crucial.

Without further ado....

BLOOMINGTON

MAYOR Affable wingnut Ryan Kulka is running for mayor with all-blue branding and a message of "change" to throw us off, but make no mistake, he is heavily funded by far-right PACS (the Freedom Club and newly created Alliance for a Better Bloomington) and voted for the nightmare in the white house. He has spent $8,000 in FB ads and has deep pockets from the GOP. He may snatch this if we don't turn out our people for DFL-supported Tim Busse .

CITY COUNCIL: While you're at it, tell your Bloomington peeps to vote for progressive city council candidate Jenna Carter. There's an open at-large city council seat, and the council currently has zero women. Jenna is known for her advocacy for affordable housing ordinance and tenant protection. She has a background in public health policy and is a Humphrey Policy Fellow.

SUMMARY: WHO DO YOU KNOW IN BLOOMINGTON?

Tell them they need to vote Tim Busse for Mayor, Jenna Carter for council

MINNETONKA

SCHOOL BOARD: A homophobic, female Rick Santorum is running to educate kids in Minnetonka, and it's time for a big hell no to Julie Light. In her testimony against gay marriage (remember the whole marriage amendment thing?) she said there's no discrimination against LGBTQ, and they have the same rights to marry that straight people do - the right to marry someone of the opposite sex as god intended *eye roll*. She goes on in her nauseating testimony to equate homosexuality with incest and bestiality. You can watch the whole thing here, Julie starts at about 40:30.

SUMMARY: WHO DO YOU KNOW IN MINNETONKA?

Tell them ANYONE but Julie Light for school board

ANOKA COUNTY

SCHOOL BOARD: This is a big one, the wingnuts are gunning hard to re-elect incumbent Tom Heidemann. Anoka County has been sued TWICE under his watch for discrimination against LGBTQ+ kids, and apparently that's a-ok with Tom. The area was actually declared a "suicide contagion zone" at one point. Erin Heers-McArdle is running a valiant campaign to change things for our kids, but it's an uphill battle against attack ads, constant posts from local GOP, and a mass mailing that was sent to voters by the conservative Minnesota Family Council.

SUMMARY: GOTV OR THINK ABOUT WHO YOU KNOW IN ANOKA COUNTY

Beating an incumbent will be very tough, and Erin needs help. If you can, get to a GOTV event this weekend (see picture at the end of this article). At the very least, ping your network. This Anoka county district includes: Anoka, a good part of Ramsey and a small part of Andover and Coon Rapids. So ping anyone in those cities, they can check to see if Erin is on their ballot here.

GOTV VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES FOR ERIN

RESOURCES

Do I have an election? In general, Minneapolis, Crystal, Robinsdale and some other cities don't have an election on 11/5/19, while St. Paul and a number of 'burbs do. You can see what's going on in your city here.

As always, www.mnvotes.org is the link to remember to see what's on your ballot, where you can vote or vote early, check your registration status (remember we have same-day registration in MN so you can register when you vote - don't sweat it if you're not registered yet) and anything else you need to know about voting.

Let's do this thing.