This China Virus #LockdownMN hit right about the time local and state parties were starting to organize for endorsing candidates and determining what if any changes should be done to Party Platforms.
Six months later Voters are gearing up to make their General Election selections and now more than any other year responses in Debates and Forums will help them decide if they are unsure who to support with their vote. Early Voting starts on this Friday September 18, 2020.
Canceling Legislative District Forums 65 & 67
Why has the League of Women Voters of Saint Paul canceled two Legislative District Forums? The first forum they canceled was Legislative District 65 on September 9, 2020, and now they’ve canceled the Minnesota Legislative District 67 Forum scheduled for September 16, 2020.
Paraphrasing from Republican candidates in both Legislative Districts the contacts from the League of Women Voters of St Paul said there was a lack of interest from the candidates. This is not true. The Republican candidates were prepared to attend but the DFL ones didn’t seem to want to show up.
Looking at the SD 65 DFL Calendar it doesn’t look like they had anything scheduled at the time the Forum was scheduled on September 9th.
There was no event on the websites of Senator Sandy Pappas, nor Rep Rena Moran 65A, nor on the Facebook Page of the 30 year Rep Carlos Mariani 65B
There aren’t any SD 67 Events scheduled at all, there’s no SD 67 DFL calendar so what was so important the DFL Candidates couldn’t show up?
There is no event on any of the Legislative District 67 DFL candidates websites either, Only John Thompson 67A has an events calendar and his has nothing on it.
DFL endorsed 67A Candidate John Thompson doesn’t have to attend a Forum thanks to the LWV St Paul
Is the League of Women Voters Non-Partisan?
Often you’ll hear Republicans call the LWV the LLWV as in the “League of Liberal Women Voters” as their bias tends to lean left. In recent years they had former Ramsey County Elections Manager Joe Mansky who voiced his DFL opinions. They never seem to invite Conservative Legislators or leaders to address their non-profit “non-partisan” group. Why should Conservatives or Republicans continue to let them moderate debates and forums?
That’s a good question which leads to the question, “Why isn’t there set standards candidates for public debates can expect?”
There Should be a State Standard for Candidate Debates
In the past, the LWV have hosted debates/forums that were below the expectations of those assembled to listen to the responses from candidates. The worst in recent memory was the St Paul Special Election in Ward 1 in 2011 when the LWV hosted a forum at the Hubbs Center at Oxford and University Ave W. Neither the SPNN crew nor the LWV had any microphones for the several candidates running for the position to replace former Councilman Melvin Carter III when he left his city council seat in Ward 1 to take a position at the Minnesota Department of Education. The audience had to be deathly quiet in order to hear the responses to questions from the LWV moderator.
At other forums not run by the LWV there have been lapses of coverage such as a forum in which Emory Dively was a candidate. Emory is deaf and there wasn’t an interpreter for him to use to be able to articulate his responses to the questions asked of the candidates nor his political opponent’s response.
Sometimes Debate or Forum hosts do not find a date and time that accommodates the schedules of the candidates to hold it.
In the case of the LWV Forum for HD 67A & 67B in 2018, there wasn’t a candidate who filed in 67A for the GOP and the 67B DFL Candidate Jay Xiong didn’t bother to attend the forum so Rep Tim Mahoney of 67A debated the HD 67B Republican Candidate Fred Turk. It was just so disjointed and awkward that two candidates from different districts were debating it screamed the LWV doesn’t know what to do anymore.
Answers need to be found why it is okay to cut off half of St Paul Voters to know what candidates think about issues.
There needs to be an alternative to the League of Women Voters to moderate debates in the future because they lack non-partisan credibility.