By: Jesse Hallbeck
People who live in the Cloquet area should be well aware of their representative Bill Hilty. For the last seven elections Hilty has come out on top. In his tenure in St. Paul, Bill Hilty (D), has been very active in the house and is the chair of the Energy Finacne and Policy Division committee. Hilty is also a part of several other committees. This political year, however, the media shows right-winged candidates doing better than the last election. In states that vote consistently blue there are some red candidates making ground and possibly causing an upset. A good local example is the Oberstar/Cravaak race. Oberstar has been in office for 17 terms and some polls show him in a tight race with his GOP opponent.
This year's apparent shift to the "right" may be good for some first time candidates. Mark Ames (R) is one of those who hopes to overthrow his long standing opponent. Mark Ames is an apple farmer who has had an interesting life. He spent time abroad when he was young and spent a good part of his life working with deaf children. Ames has had no previous public service but he is running on the hopes voters will get rid the traditional politician and go for something new.
The make up of the Minnesota House of Representatives could drastically change this midterm if voters decide to give up on the DFL. The people of Minnesota are in for a very exciting race.
On election day who will you vote for? We would love to hear from you. Leave a comment or start a discussion about your candidate.