Our View: Election season coming right at us

We’re expecting a different campaign season this year, with social distancing both a barrier to traditional campaigning and an issue in itself: How much social distancing and other restrictions does the government have over its citizens?

So we were interested to see the endorsements made by the two major parties for Minnesota State Senate District 11, which includes Carlton County.

Both incumbents received their parties’ endorsement: Sen. Jason Rarick, the Republican from Pine City has represented Carlton County in the Senate since he won a special election about a year ago to replace Tony Lourey. This is his first re-election campaign for the seat, although he served in the House representing the Pine County area for five years before that. His political philosophy leans conservative, especially on issues such as abortion, gun rights and taxes, although he distinguishes himself from “typical Republicans” (as he says) by touting his long history in labor unions.

His challenger for SD11 is Michelle Lee, who earned the DFL endorsement last week. Lee is a Moose Lake resident who ran, unsuccessfully, for the DFL endorsement last year when the seat became available. It’s impossible to read much into that loss, however, as the DFL endorsement process was flawed due to the hurried endorsing convention, bad weather and confusion about mail-in ballots. Lee is new to politics after a long career in television news. She ran for the DFL’s endorsement for U.S. House in 2018, winning in Carlton County, but coming in second overall. Lee campaigns on affordable healthcare, living wages, affordable housing and daycare, and she particularly champions access to broadband internet in rural areas.

Expect to see and hear from both candidates as they campaign for the Minnesota Senate District 11 this season. Providing information on candidates is important to the Pine Knot News, and we encourage voters to educate themselves on all candidates as they decide whom to support in this fall’s elections.

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