Turmoil in D.C. animates voters in nonpartisan races across Minnesota

Rich Updegrove has knocked on hundreds of doors as he campaigns for a Duluth City Council seat in Tuesday's election. He expected to find disengagement from the contentious state of national politics and people who believe their vote "really doesn't matter," he said.

He found the opposite.

"Across the board, national politics comes up on the doorsteps," said Updegrove, a social studies teacher and first-time candidate. "But there's no 'Oh, I'm so put off or depressed.' … They're energized. They're turned on to voting. They want to express themselves."

Political turmoil in Washington is animating this year's nonpartisan school board and city council races across Minnesota. Voters' attitudes provide clues to their moods heading into 2018, when they'll help decide control of both chambers of Congress and choose a new governor.

Stephanie Barnacle, a school board candidate in Mankato, said voters seem to be "more vocal and wanting to be [more] involved than in the past."

Interviews with candidates on Minnesota ballots this Tuesday found a near-unanimous sense of renewed voter interest in issues and campaigns. Some said dismay with the national scene is increasing awareness of the importance of local races.

Some said they expect turnout — usually low in off-year elections with no national or statewide races — to be higher than normal. And some see positive signs for 2018 in what they're hearing this year.

"Maybe it's because what's going on in Washington is so far out there," she said.

National polls suggest that growing disenchantment with President Donald Trump is, for now, helping Democrats. A Fox News poll released last week showed Democratic candidates ahead, 50 to 35 percent, in a hypothetical matchup for the 2018 elections. A year ago, that question showed voters evenly split at 45 percent each.

The latest survey was conducted before special counsel Robert Mueller filed charges last Monday in his inquiry into Russian influence in the 2016 presidential election.

Asked how they felt about the country's direction, 57 percent told Fox News they were "not so hopeful," while 41 percent said they were hopeful.

Duane Girard, who's running for a school board seat in south Washington County, said voters he talks with seem to be evenly divided on national politics. "I'm seeing people who are very distrustful of the administration," he said, "and on the other side, pretty decent support."

In St. Louis Park, City Council candidate Brian Shekleton doesn't bring up national politics when he knocks on doors, but the people who answer often mention Trump or Washington. "A lot of it comes across in facial expressions: It's clearly painful. People are disgusted," he said. "There's clearly a desire to vent."

Shekleton steers conversations toward local matters but has picked up broader implications for upcoming elections. "People care about competency, they want less drama from the decisionmakers, and experience is really relevant to their choices," he said.

Margaret Rog, another St. Louis Park City Council candidate, found that most voters want to talk about close-to-home topics such as housing, schools and property taxes. But she sees national implications in those priorities, too.

"It could be a symptom of people looking for security … looking to maintain their quality of life despite what's happening on the national level politically," she said, describing such sentiments as a "salve or antidote" for frustration.

Rog is gratified by some comments. "I get a lot of 'Thank you for running,' " she said, and some voters say they feel that "we need more women in leadership or politics."

For example, Darren Wacker, a school board candidate in Mankato, uses social media — in addition to one-on-one conversations — to connect with voters. "I'm making sure that what is being put out is not controversial, but is positive and supportive," he said.

He's relieved that "the hyper-partisanship we're seeing at the national level is not really carrying down to the local level."

Dana Krivogorsky's candidacy for Duluth's school board is defined by the fact that she's "not one of the cookie-cutter bunch," she said. "I'm definitely a wild card. I'm definitely an outsider."

She has no support from political party organizations, Krivogorsky said, and that has worked to her benefit. "I offer just common-sense, practical solutions," she said.

But avoiding partisan conversations about issues such as North Korea and health care isn't easy, she said. "People actually talk about it a lot."

Millennials "are starting to get more involved," said Craig Angrimson, who's running for the Rosemount-Apple Valley-Eagan school board. "They want to be precinct chairs. … They're saying, 'We have a stake in this. This is our future. It's our country, too.' "

Angrimson sees other signs of increased interest in politics. Some state House candidates, he said, "are already out there campaigning" — even though they aren't on the ballot until next year.

Sally Trnka, a Duluth school board candidate, said people are eagerly answering their doors to talk with her. Sometimes they say they pay attention to state and national politics and generally don't get involved at the local level. Then they quiz her about local education issues. "They're turning out to volunteer," she said. "More than ever, people are wanting to celebrate what they can do."

"Voters are starting to ramp up already for next year's elections," Trnka said. "People are looking for some positivity."