Twin Cities Voter Cheat Sheet

Endorsed Vote: Yes

YES, WITH RESERVATIONS
This amendment to our state constitution would mandate an increase sales tax (about $1/week for the average family) to ensure that our state has the money it needs to protect the outdoors and the arts. We love the outdoors. We love art. But a constitutional amendment? We support this initiative, but fear this is a slippery slope.

Endorsed Vote: Yes

YES
In order for all kids in the MPLS Public Schools to succeed, we need serious improvement in early literacy, math and science education, technology and text books, and small class size. And we’ve got to pay for them. This referendum raises property taxes to ensure our kids get the education they deserve. We need to ensure that the next generation of kids get quality education.

Barack Obama/ Joe Biden

Endorsed Vote: Yes

OH HELL YEAH.
We LOVE Obama. First of all, the man is brilliant, understands that we’re part of a bigger world, and has run his campaign community-organizing style. Obama is committed to making higher education affordable, taxing the filthy rich and bringing troops home. We love and support the man, but once he’s elected, there will still be work to do; we’ll need to push Obama on his support of offshore drilling and nuclear energy, gun control and corporate bailouts.

Al Franken

Endorsed Vote: Yes

YEAH
To be honest, Franken is not our favorite guy, but electing him is CRITICAL. His slimy opponent, Norm Coleman, has spent the last 6 years destroying MN’s infrastructure and kissing up on Big Oil, Big Polluters, War Profiteers and Pharmaceutical Companies. Franken supports renewable energy, universal health care and a tax credit to help students pay for college.

US Rep – District 2 **Steve Sarvi

Endorsed Vote: Yes

YEAH.
Sarvi is an Iraq Veteran and moderate Democrat who believes that we need more funding and less standardized testing in MN schools. His opponent, John Kline, is a wack job who’s voted against access to student loans, the establishment of an Office of Congressional Ethics and access to mental health and addiction care. Wow.

US Rep – District 3 **Ashwin Madia

Endorsed Vote: Yes

YEAH.
Y’all, here’s our chance to flip the Third District after nearly 50 years of Republican control (We NEED this seat) with a young, smart Iraq War veteran who is committed to bringing our troops home, building a “green” economy, expanding educational opportunities, and breaking our nation's addiction to foreign oil.

US Representative – District 4 (St Paul) Betty McCollum

Endorsed Vote: Yes

YEAH. Betty stands up for children, the environment, soldiers, low-income people and civil liberties. She’s particularly interested in international issues—from genocide in Darfur to US military action in Latin America. We want her to keep it going in District 4!

US Representative – District 5 (Minneapolis) Keith Ellison

Endorsed Vote: Yes

OH HELL YEAH. Ellison is our man. He takes young people seriously. He’s proposed legislation for national same-day voter registration, is a key figure pushing for Green Jobs, and is fighting for college tax credits for room/board, books and fees. He’s pushing GLBT issues in Congress, and cosponsored articles of impeachment against Bush! One caveat: we’re angry about Ellison’s bailout vote.

US Representative – District 6 **El Tinklenberg

Endorsed Vote: Yes

YEAH.
Tinklenberg is a fine guy—he’s serious about renewable energ and higher ed access—but compared to his opponent, Michelle Bachmann, he’s a saint. Bachmann (MN’s answer to Sarah Palin), has voted against children’s heath care (!), veterans’ benefits, and public safety. She’s against teaching evolution and believes global warming is a “voodoo hoax.” So for the love of all things rational, vote Tinklenberg.

State Represntative - District 58A Joe Mullery

Endorsed Vote: Yes

WELL, OKAY.
Mullery has become something of a leader in finding solutions to the home foreclosure crisis. But he’s been around for a LONG time and doesn't seem to have kept up with his changing district. This is a seat young people should look at running for.

State Representative District 58B Bobby Joe Champion

Endorsed Vote: Yes

HELL YEAH.
The name says it all: Bobby Joe is a champion in our book. He is pushing living wage jobs, Universal health care and has taken the bold stance that we cannot "arrest away" public safety concerns. Instead, we must invest in more and better youth programming and education.

State Representative—District 59A Diane Loffler

Endorsed Vote: Yes

YEAH. Diane takes her job seriously and has worked really hard on our state health care system.

State Representative—District 59B Phyllis Kahn

Endorsed Vote: Yes

WELL, OKAY.
Phyllis Kahn is Latin for “cog in the DFL machine.” She has held this position since 1972—before any of us were even a twinkle in our moms’ eyes. She votes just fine—and she has really pushed for lowering the voting age to 16. But 36 years? Really?

State Representative—District 60A Margaret Anderson Kelliher

Endorsed Vote: Yes

YEAH.
Kelliher holds it down at the Capitol, as Minnesota’s Speaker of the House. She’s put a lot of energy into supporting new candidates for the legislature—especially women—in order to build a solid progressive majority. She is responsible for the only override of a Pawlenty veto (on the Transportation Bill).

State Representative—District 60B Frank Hornstein

Endorsed Vote: Yes

HELL YEAH.
With an extensive background in community organizing, Hornstein has fought hard for young people, GLBT people, immigrants, public transit riders, workers and students (YOU, probably). He has aggressively pushed for renewable energy, expanded public transit and affordable health care.

State Representative—District 61A Sen. Karen Clark

Endorsed Vote: Yes

HELL YEAH.
Clark represents the poorest district in the state and scores high on the “Racial Justice Report Card.” She's good on choice issues & comprehensive sex education. She's good on civil rights. She's good on K-12 and higher education. She's good on climate change. What can we say - she's just good. No, she’s GREAT.

State Representative—District 61B Farheen Hakeem

Endorsed Vote: Yes

HELL YEAH.
This is a tight race. And straight up: we think her opponent, Jeff Hayden, is a great candidate. But Farheen (Green Party) is incredibly accessible to the people in her district, and really committed to young people. She’s been serious about renewable energy & environmental justice long before it got sexy. We endorse Hakeem because she's clearer on the issues, but this is a tough one—you call it.

State Representative—District 62A Jim Davnie

Endorsed Vote: Yes

HELL YEAH.
Thank you, Jim Davnie, for all the work you’ve done for us and our communities. A teacher and union activist, Davnie fights for good schools and sits on the Green Jobs task force. A special thank you for going after predatory lenders, and for offering protection and aid to homeowners and renters facing foreclosures.

State Representative—District 62B Jean Wagenius

Endorsed Vote: Yes

YEAH.
Wagenius has done a lot to protect the environment. We need her to step up her leadership in other areas, particularly on issues of racial justice.

State Representative—District 63A Paul Thissen

Endorsed Vote: Yes

YEAH.
Representing a more conservative, largely suburban district, Thissen has to do a lot of compromising to make moderate reforms to health care, welfare, and social security. We admire his steadiness on this. Moving forward, we’d like to see him fight more for health care for poor and immigrant families and worry less about insurance companies' profits.

Carla Bates

Endorsed Vote: Yes

HELL YEAH.
Carla has three kids in MPLS public schools. She’s honest, ethical and gutsy. She believes in small class size, community and parent involvement in schools, and is committed to tackling racial and cultural disparities in the district. Carla would be the only gay or lesbian council member at a time when schools are grappling with issues of gender and sexuality.

Associate Justice - Supreme Court 3 (State) Paul H. Anderson

Endorsed Vote: Yes

YEAH.
Don't let the grey hair fool you on this one; Anderson’s got us in mind. He is known for calling out the "crisis" of racial inequality in the MN judicial system and looks for alternative options to incarceration. An avid biker, you may see him on a greenway near you.

Judge - Court of Appeals - Seat 16 Terri J. Stoneburner

Endorsed Vote: Yes

YEAH.
Stoneburner is both a good judge and highly active in her community. More importantly, her opponent is a member of one of the most restrictive, right-wing evangelical churches in Northern Minnesota.

Judge - 4th District Court - Seat 9 Philip D. Bush

Endorsed Vote: Yes

HELL YEAH.
Judge Bush is one of the best, more justice-oriented judges we’ve got in Hennepin County. He makes sure all voices are truly heard. A community group that works against police brutality said of Bush, “After all the monkeyshines we've seen by Hennepin County judges, it is refreshing to find a judge who takes his job seriously and is willing to actually see justice done.”

Judge - 4th District Court - Seat 53 Jane Ranum

Endorsed Vote: Yes

HELL YEAH.
For the record, Ranum’s opponent, David L. Piper, is a great, highly-qualified candidate. But we’re incredibly impressed by Ranum, who years of experience in the Hennepin County Attorney’s office and the Minnesota Senate. Ranum held the first hearings in Minnesota on racial profiling, and authored the first racial profiling legislation. She prosecuted groundbreaking domestic violence cases, fought for increased funding for Legal Aid, and opposed the Pawlenty’s anti-immigrant legislation.

Soil and Water Supervisor District 3 James Wisker

Endorsed Vote: Yes

Wisker understands that rural and urban communities have different environmental problems, and believes in working in partnership with communities. Guess you can’t argue with that.

State Representative—District 64A Erin Murphy

Endorsed Vote: Yes

YEAH.
Murphy is a solid DFLer in a very solid DFL district. She took a bold vote to keep the separation between immigration and law enforcement. Given the “safety” of this district, we’d like to see young people push their elected officials to take even more courageous stances.

Representative District 64B Michael Paymar

Endorsed Vote: Yes

HELL YEAH.
Dang. Paymar is a hard-working champion on Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault legislation, public safety and civil rights. He’s got our love.

State Representative—District 65A Cy Thao

Endorsed Vote: Yes

YEAH.
Where in the world is Cy Thao? We like Thao, he’s a great artist, but on some big issues facing his ward and the Hmong community—light rail, for example—his leadership has been notably missing.

State Representative - District 65B Carlos Mariani

Endorsed Vote: Yes

YEAH.
Mariani has been a true champion of racial justice at the capital. We love him for that. We only wish he’d step up his game on other progressive issues. Shout out to Mariani’s son--a great example for young people and an excellent poet.

State Representative—District 66A John Lesch

Endorsed Vote: Yes

YEAH.
Lesch is a strong DFLer in a DFL kind of district. We could do a lot worse but could also push him to be better.

State Representative District 66B Alice Hausman

Endorsed Vote: Yes

Hey does this sound familiar? Hausman is a strong DFLer in a DFL kind of district. Good on education funding.

State Representative—District 67A Tim Mahoney

Endorsed Vote: Yes

YEAH.
Mahoney supports green jobs and Minnesota Care, the League supports green jobs and Minnesota Care. If the League were an older white guy we might in fact look like Mahoney. Then again, what are the chances of that?

State Representative - District 67B Sheldon Johnson

Endorsed Vote: Yes

YEAH.
Hey St. Paul, have you heard this before? Johnson is a solid DFLer, blah, blah, blah.

Associate Justice - Supreme Court 3 Paul H. Anderson

Endorsed Vote: Yes

YEAH.
This is a statewide race. For info on this Justice, peep the judicial endorsements under Minneapolis

Judge - Court of Appeals - Seat 16 Terri J. Stoneburner

Endorsed Vote: Yes

YEAH.
This is a statewide race. For info on this Justice, peep the judicial endorsements under Minneapolis

Judge - 2nd District Court - Seat 21 Gail Chang Bohr

Endorsed Vote: Yes

YEAH.
Chang Bohr is an advocate and activist for kids. She’s spent the last 13 years as the Executive Director of Children's Law Center of Minnesota, making sure that kids have a voice and real representation in the courts. She’s fair, ethical and smart.

Soil and Water Supervisor District 3 Paul Sawyer

Endorsed Vote: Yes

YEAH.
Paul is a young guy. We like his passion. In his own words, "Being a young person, I have a sense of urgency about these issues, because I will have to live with the conservation decisions made today for the next fifty or sixty years…. Our resources are too valuable to ignore any longer."

County Commissioner District 1 Victoria Reinhardt

Endorsed Vote: Yes

YEAH.
Reinhardt is committed to finding real, long-term solutions to crime and juvenile justice. The unions love her.