Election Guide 2018

ELECTION

2018 GUIDE

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Election Guide Fall 2018

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How to register and vote in Minnesota Student guide to this year's midterm elections

Student campaign strategies shift ahead of midterms What to expect on the ballot University students share their voting priorities

Despite historically low turnout, students may make a difference

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How to register and vote in Minnesota

BY TIFFANY BUI tbui@mndaily.com

Minnesota residents that are 18 years or older and US citizens have a variety of voting options. Here’s how students can be prepared to cast their ballot.

First: locate your polling place The Office of the Minnesota Secretary of State has a search function on its website to locate voting places. It's simple, as students can search via their addresses. After finding the location, make sure to show up between 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. to cast a vote.

MADDY FOX, DAILY FILE PHOTO

Voters line up outside of First Congressional Church in the Marcy Holmes neighborhood on Nov. 8, 2016. Polls opened at 7 a.m. and hundreds of voters came out early to cast their votes.

Next: registering to vote The deadline to register online or on paper has passed. But Minnesota allows voters to register at the polls on Election Day. Students should list their voting address at the residence they currently consider home, according to the Office of the

Minnesota Secretary of State website. This can be a school address or a parent’s house.

Students who moved to Minnesota from another state may also vote if they have lived in Minnesota for at least 20 days prior to the election. All voters must re-register after an address or name change, or if they have not voted in four years.

Last: showing up to vote Students registering on Nov. 6 will need to bring one of the following for proof of residence: • ID with current name and address • Photo ID and a document with a current name and address • A registered voter who can confirm your address • UCard for those living in student housing • Valid registration in the same precinct • Notice of late registration.

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A student guide to voting in Minnesota's midterm elections

Van Cleave Park Recreation Center accommodated voters in the municipal elections on Tuesday, Nov. 6, 2017 in Minneapolis, MN.

ELLEN SCHMIDT, DAILY FILE PHOTO

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Minnesotans will vote on numerous statewide and national races on Nov. 6.

BY ISABELLA MURRAY imurray@mndaily.com

In the upcoming general midterm elections, Minnesota will see an open race for governor and both U.S. Senate seats on the ballot. The 5th Congressional District and House District 60B races are also open, with both districts encompassing the University of Minnesota campus.

House District 60B House District 60B includes the University of Minnesota and Augsburg University, as well as the Marcy-Holmes, Prospect Park, Seward, Southeast Como and Cedar-Riverside neighborhoods.

Rep. Keith Ellison, D-Minn., filed last-minute to run for Minnesota Attorney General, prompting Rep. Ilhan Omar, DFLMinneapolis, to file for his vacated congressional seat. After Omar’s House seat opened up, DFL candidate Mohamud Noor and his GOP opponent Joe Patiño won their respective primaries for a chance at the office.

Mohamud Noor After winning by around 900 votes over his opponent in the primaries, Noor will be on the ballot Nov. 6. A current executive director at the Confederation of Somali Community in Minnesota, he is a former board member of Minneapolis Public Schools.

Noor supports reforming the Minnesota College Affordability Act, a proposed law that would make two- and four-year public college programs free for families making less than $125,000 a year.

“From safety to funding to education to housing, and policy initiatives and research and development, I’ll be an asset to the U,” Noor told the Daily in September.

Noor ran for the Ward 6 City Council seat in November, which he lost to incumbent Abdi Warsame. In 2016, he ran against Omar for the 60B seat.

Joe Patiño Patiño received 190 votes in the 60B Republican primary, cementing his position in the race.

Student issues like tuition and housing — especially as they pertain to Greek students — and immigration make up a large focus of

A voting booth is set up at Weisman Art Museum on Tuesday, Nov. 6, 2017 in Minneapolis, MN.

Patiño’s campaign. "[Greek life] gives people a home, and I think that's what people need," Patiño told the Daily in September. "We need that companionship. I strongly support what they stand for: doing service, providing leadership opportunities and lower cost for housing."

Minnesota’s 5th Congressional District Minnesota’s 5th Congressional District covers eastern Hennepin County, including the entire city of Minneapolis, along with parts of Anoka and Ramsey counties.

Former House District 60B candidate Ilhan Omar won the DFL spot for the seat in the primaries by a significant margin. She will compete against GOP opponent Jennifer

ELLEN SCHMIDT, DAILY FILE PHOTO

Zielinski in the midterms.

campus this fall.

State Rep. Ilhan Omar The first elected Somali-American legislator in the country, Omar is a strong advocate for immigration and refugee rights, as she fits into the categories herself.

Omar has discussed dismantling U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and establishing a clear pathway to citizenship and residency for individuals already living in the country.

With a strong student base, Omar often cites her accessibility around campus.

“People between 18 [and] 24 in this district decide the vote. I’m going to ask you all to pledge to do so,” Omar said at a rally on

Jennifer Zielinski A Twin Cities resident, Zielinski currently lives in South Minneapolis, where she works in health care.

On her campaign website, Zielinski identifies her top priorities as keeping the economy growing, continuing the Trump tax cuts and defending First and Second Amendment rights.

Zielinski said she will work for affordability and effectiveness of health care, improving education and addressing the opioid epidemic. u The Senate and Gubernatorial elections, contnued on STUDENT GUIDE Page 6

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Student guide u from Page 5

Special Senate Election After former Sen. Al Franken, D-Minn., stepped down amid allegations of inappropriate behavior in January, DFL Gov. Mark Dayton appointed his lieutenant governor Tina Smith to fill his Senate seat.

Franken’s resignation calls for a special election Nov. 6, and Smith has campaigned to keep her seat against GOP-endorsed Karin Housley.

The seat will be on the ballot again in 2020.

Sen. Tina Smith Sen. Tina Smith, D-Minn., previously served as vice president of external affairs for Planned Parenthood of Minnesota and the Dakotas. She was also chief of staff for Dayton during his first term.

She rallies for cost of education and reproductive health care. At a rally on campus this fall, Smith discussed her support for a student debt refinance bill and higher education funding.

“How are you going to be able to figure out the life that you want when you leave this incredible institution buried with financial obligations that keep you from making the choices you want to make?” Smith said to the crowd.

State Sen. Karin Housley State Sen. Housley, R-St. Mary’s Point, campaigns for affordable health care, including reforming the Affordable Care Act. She also hopes to reform immigration.

Housley said it’s important to include the college voice in her campaign, and often interacts with the Republican groups on campus who phone bank and door knock on her behalf.

“The college is a voice that hasn’t been heard enough in the Republican party,” Housley said. “This is one of the best chances we have at taking a Senate seat in a long time.”

Senate race for Klobuchar incumbency Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., won election to the U.S. Senate in 2006. She will be running for her third term against State Rep. Jim Newberger, R-Becker.

Sen. Amy Klobuchar Klobuchar is a member of the Senate Agriculture Committee and Judiciary Committee in Washington, among others, with her efforts directed toward protecting the Great Lakes, keeping Minnesota's waterways clean, the Farm Bill and campaign finance reform.

Klobuchar was also an active voice in

Thursday, November 1, 2018 confirmation hearings for Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh earlier this year.

State Rep. Jim Newberger Newberger, who lives in Becker and represents parts of Sherburne and Benton counties near St. Cloud, spent three terms in the Minnesota House.

A paramedic who is an adamant supporter of gun rights in the Legislature, Newberger has spent the past sessions voting generally conservative to represent his rural, central Minnesota district.

Gubernatorial Race A vocal supporter of the University of Minnesota, DFL Gov. Mark Dayton is retiring after serving for nearly eight years.

Gubernatorial candidates Republican Jeff Johnson and Democrat Tim Walz are currently campaigning to take Dayton’s place as the 41st governor of Minnesota.

The two candidates recently took part in a University of Minnesota Alumni Association survey regarding higher education funding and policy. Both highlighted the need to make the University more affordable and acknowledged its influence on state and local economies in their responses.

Rep. Tim Walz Rep. Tim Walz, D-Minn., hails from southern Minnesota and has held the 1st Congressional District seat since 2007. A former educator, Walz has noted he's supportive of making tuition more affordable. At a rally on campus this fall, his running mate Rep. Peggy Flanagan, DFL-St. Louis Park, said they would work on legislation to bring down tuition costs and refinance loans if elected.

“The state should continue to invest in our institutions to ensure we live up to the promise of accessible, affordable and excellent higher education for all Minnesotans,” Walz said in the survey.

Jeff Johnson After serving six years in the state House of Representatives, Johnson currently represents District 7 on the Hennepin County Board of Commissioners. He is the GOP nominee for governor of Minnesota.

Johnson said he would not oppose stronger restrictions than what federal law and University policy currently dictate for fetal tissue research at the University, according to his survey response.

Johnson also stands firm on health care issues, pledging to drive costs down if he were to be elected.

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Campaigners for Raymond Dehn, senior Sonia Neculescu and sophomore Aisha Chughtai, offer rides across the Washington Avenue Bridge on Tuesday, Nov. 7, 2017.

Student campaign strategies shift ahead of midterms

BY ISABELLA MURRAY imurray@mndaily.com

As November’s midterm elections approach, University of Minnesota student leaders are shifting away from candidate-driven campaign strategies.

Political mobilization around campus before August’s primary elections was focused on specific campaigns and student groups, according to student leaders. Now, they say say general election involvement has shifted — student energy is directed more toward voter outreach and collaborative event planning to encourage student

voter turnout.

“We're talking way less about candidates now and more about getting people to vote and pledging to vote,” said Natasha Sohni of Rep. Ilhan Omar, DFL-Minneapolis's congressional campaign.

August’s primary elections saw historic voting numbers and a focus on student participation in campaigns, which was in part due to some candidates’ engagement around campus, said Sonia Neculescu, chair of DFL Senate District 60 and founder of Women for Political Change.

“In the primaries, we had inspiring candidates that really activated students,”

Neculescu said. “We saw a surge of engagement.”

Democratic leaders said students on campus were especially enthusiastic to advocate for former gubernatorial candidate Rep. Erin Murphy, DFL-St. Paul, and her running mate, Rep. Erin Maye Quade, DFL-Apple Valley, in the primaries.

“If we think about people around 18 to 24, a lot of them were excited about 'the Erins' because they made more of an effort to reach out to our age group,” Sohni said.

Although Murphy’s campaign ended after Rep. Tim Walz, D-Minn., won the DFL primary, student activism still exists on

campus, Neculescu said. But the focus is not solely on campaign work.

“We haven’t seen that student base go towards Walz, but are engaged in a different way,” Neculescu said.

Students are instead focusing on electoral organizing — registering voters and advocating for early voting by door-knocking, phone-banking and canvassing.

“I think that is because there is normally such a low amount of students that turn out, so our number one priority is to make sure that students are able to get to the polls,” said Michaela Muza, campus organizer with the DFL Youth Coordinated Campaign.

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What to expect on the ballot With Minnesota in the spotlight this midterm season, here's what to know before you vote.

BY TIFFANY BUI tbui@mndaily.com

Minnesota’s midterms have garnered national attention as one of the most closely watched elections in the nation.

Minneapolis voters have responded by casting early ballots in record amounts. A landmark number of people turned out for early voting at the primary elections, including in student areas.

Although midterms have historically low turnout rates among college students, the Trump administration is motivating young people to stay engaged this time around, said David Schultz, a political science professor at Hamline University. “[The Obama administration] was safe when it came to a lot of the issues college students care about. Trump’s election, I think, shocked a lot of students,” Schultz said.

“There’s a perception that this election matters to them in ways that it might not have mattered to them in other years.”

Schultz said Minnesota’s election will be particularly consequential in deciding which party gains control of the U.S. House of Representatives — four of the 24 congressional swing seats are in Minnesota.

“Minnesota is almost a perfect microcosm of what’s going to happen in the United States,” he said, adding that the competitiveness of races in rural, urban and suburban areas reflect national trends.

Here’s what races and candidates University of Minnesota students will see on their ballots Nov. 6.

HAIILEE SCHIEVELBEIN, DAILY

Federal races The candidates running for U.S. Senate are Jim Newberger (R), Amy Klobuchar (DFL), Dennis Schuller (Legal Marijuana Now) and Paula Overby (Minnesota Green Party).

The special election for U.S. Senate was triggered after Al Franken stepped down

Thursday, November 1, 2018 earlier this year before the end of his term.

The candidates running for his seat are Karin Housley (R), Tina Smith (DFL), Sarah Wellington (Legal Marijuana Now) and Jerry Trooien (Unaffiliated).

Candidates for U.S. representative in Congressional District 5 are Jennifer Zielinski (R) and Ilhan Omar (DFL).

State races Candidates running for governor and lieutenant governor are Jeff Johnson and Donna Bergstrom (R ), Tim Walz and Peggy Flanagan (DFL), Chris Wright and Judith Schwartzbacker (Legalize Cannabis) and Josh Welter and Mary O’Connor (Libertarian).

Those running for Minnesota House 60B, which includes Marcy-Holmes, Southeast Como, Prospect Park and Cedar-Riverside neighborhoods, are Mohamud Noor (DFL) and Joseph Patiño (R).

Secretary of state candidates are John Howe (R ), Steve Simon (DFL) and William Denney (Independent).

State auditor candidates are Pam Myhra (R), Julie Blaha (DFL), Michael Ford (Legal

9 Marijuana Now) and Chris Dock (Libertarian).

In an election broiled in controversy, the candidates running for attorney general are Doug Wardlow (R), Keith Ellison (DFL) and Noah Johnson (Legalize Cannabis).

Local races Hennepin County Commissioner for District 4 candidates are Peter McLaughlin and Angela Conley.

Candidates running for County Sheriff are Dave Hutch and Rich Stanek.

County attorney candidates are Mark Haase and Mike Freeman.

“Trump’s election, I think, shocked a lot of students.

There’s a perception that this election matters to them in ways that it might not have mattered to them in other years.”

DAVID SCHULTZ political science professor at Hamline University

EASTON GREEN, DAILY FILE PHOTO

GOP-endorsed candidate for Minnesota Governor Jeff Johnson shakes hands with parade spectators at the Father Hennepin Parade in Champlin, Minnesota on Saturday, June 9.

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University students share their voting priorities UMN students discussed voting and issues impacting them ahead of the Nov. 6 midterm elections.

BY ISABELLA MURRAY imurray@mndaily.com

PHOTOS BY COURTNEY DEUTZ cdeutz@mndaily.com

Second-year medical student Peter Akal from Syria

PSEO student Joshua Mason, from St. Paul, MN

Sophomore Eva Dwyer, global studies and Arabic major from Minneapolis, MN

“I want there to be a focus on health care and health insurance. More talks about Syrian refugees and resettlements, or any other refugees. Things related to taxes, and kind of a general sense of inclusion or a lack thereof, regardless of race, ethnicity, sexual orientation. … I’m registered to vote. I’m definitely excited about this election season because we get an opportunity to ... fix what we think needs to be fixed or keep what we think needs to be kept. It’s also a little scary because the previous elections were unprecedented. The polls didn’t reflect what actually came to fruition. That’s kind of a little scary because you don’t know how that’s going to turn out.”

Mason is 17 years old and is not eligible to vote in the midterm elections.

“A lot of high schools are anti-PSEO because they lose a lot of funding for students who take part in it.

I’m on the outreach and advocacy [committee] for the PSEO Student Association here on campus, and I think we’re trying to work with Tim Walz. And if he were to make it into office, we’d be working with him to implement changes in PSEO policy. … We’re hoping he gets in office because if he does, we’re hoping he has some influence over certain changes with PSEO.”

“I feel like this season has really seen people wanting to get involved, and with my friends it’s going to be the first time or second time they are actually voting ... they’re seeing everything that’s going on and saying, ‘I’m going to be a part of this, I’m not just going to sit by.’ And even though it’s not a big election, they know it still affects things. … Even within local communities, even though we aren’t affecting national things, we are representing who we are here.”

Thursday, November 1, 2018

11 TONY SAUNDERS, DAILY FILE PHOTO

Michelle Jancaric, left, and Carlie Derouin agree to fill out voter pledges for Michaela Muza, a campus organizer with the DFL Youth Coordinated Campaign, in their doorway on Tuesday, Oct. 23 in the Como neighborhood.

Despite historically low turnout, students may make a difference Students could be the deciding factor in many of Minnesota’s competitive midterm elections.

BY AUSTEN MACALUS amacalus@mndaily.com

University of Minnesota students could be the difference in many of Minnesota’s close races during midterms.

Despite low turnout rates, political experts and student activists agree that student turnout could play a major role in several close races across Minnesota.

“The youth vote will make that difference,” said Larry Jacobs, the director of the University's Center for the Study of Politics

and Governance. “If youth turn out, they could very well swing these districts.”

Since 2012, University of Minnesota students have turned-out in presidential and midterm elections at higher rates than students at colleges and universities across the country, according to the National Study of Learning, Voting, and Engagement, which surveyed more in 1,000 schools.

Yet turnout at the University remains consistently lower than Minnesota’s general population.

In the past two midterms in Minnesota, turnout among 18-24 year-olds was significantly lower — over 30 percentage points — than the general population, even in a state with one of the highest turnout rates in

the country.

Highly competitive races usually result in higher turnout, but midterm turnout rates don't typically differ too much, said David Nickerson, a professor at Temple University who studies voter turnout.

"What will differ is who turns out to vote," Nickerson said.

Christina Laridaen, a second-year student at the University, headed-up efforts by the Minnesota Student Association, the University’s undergraduate student government, to register voters on campus.

Laridaen said she has seen increased energy and awareness about the midterms among students she's talked to.

“This year, more than usual, students are

definitely aware of the races taking place here in Minneapolis and the races that are taking place back home," Laridaen said. "Students are really starting to realize that sitting out isn’t really an option anymore.”

Jacobs said high turnout among college students would boost Democrats’ chances in Minnesota. Democrats need to flip 23 seats to gain control of Congress.

“It’s hard for any politician to count on the youth vote because it’s been such an unreliable presence in the past,” Jacobs said.

He said lawmakers often ignore students because a majority of young people don’t vote.

Jacobs said students have a straightforward choice: “If you show up, you’re listened to.

If you sit out, you’re ignored.”