How to research candidates in Minnesota before you vote
Make your vote count this year!
This guide walks through how to look up your Minnesota sample ballot, research any candidate with four key questions, and understand why those down-ballot offices matter.
Most people walk into the voting booth knowing who they want for governor and U.S. Senate. Then they reach the down-ballot races for school board, city council, and judges and find names they've never seen before.
In this moment, people typically do one of two things: Skip voting for those positions, or pick the name that sounds good.
Neither of those options is ideal, which is why we’ve created this primer on how to research candidates in Minnesota before you vote.
Look up your Minnesota sample ballot
The first step in researching candidates in Minnesota is finding out exactly which races and questions are on your ballot. The Minnesota Secretary of State's office offers a voting information lookup tool where you can view a sample ballot and find your Election Day polling place. Sample ballots are posted about 45 days before an election, so the ballot for November 3 is available now.
Here's what to expect when you pull yours up:
Every voter in the state will see races for U.S. Senator, U.S. Representative, Governor and Lieutenant Governor, Secretary of State, State Auditor, Attorney General, State Senator, State Representative, and judicial seats.
Depending on where you live, your ballot may also include county officials, city officers, school board members, township officers, or local ballot questions.
Every ballot in Minnesota includes one proposed constitutional amendment, which asks whether to increase funding for all school districts from the Permanent School Fund. Under Minnesota law, a ballot with no selection marked on the amendment counts as a "no" vote.
The state's sample ballot may not always cover every local election. For some races, you may need to contact the city, township, or school district holding the election.
The Secretary of State's candidate filings search lets you search everyone who filed as a candidate in the August and November elections.
You can bring your sample ballot with you when you vote at your polling place, so print a copy or download it to your phone and note your choices on it as you research.
Did you know: Failure to vote on a constitutional amendment will have the same effect as voting no on the amendment.
Four questions to help research any candidate in Minnesota
Once you know which names are on your ballot, you can research each candidate with the same four questions, whatever office they're running for.
What is the candidate’s background?
Start with the candidate's campaign website, which usually lists their work history, community involvement, and reasons for running. Local news outlets often publish candidate questionnaires with the same questions for everyone in a race. St. Cloud LIVE, for example, asked each District 742 school board candidate eight questions about their priorities, qualifications, and plans. The League of Women Voters runs VOTE411, which collects candidate answers for many races in one place.
What are the candidate’s voting records and past public service?
If a candidate already holds office, their record is public. The Minnesota Legislature's website lists the bills each state legislator has authored and how they voted, and Congress.gov does the same for members of Congress. For local officials, board and council meetings are usually recorded. The District 742 school board, for example, posts recordings of its meetings online.
Who is paying for a candidate's campaign?
State legislative, statewide, and judicial candidates file campaign finance reports with the Minnesota Campaign Finance Board. Federal candidates file with the FEC. Local candidates, such as school board and city council candidates, file with the local office where they registered to run. Our earlier post on spotting fake political ads, fliers, and websites walks through how to trace the outside groups paying for ads.
How does a candidate’s campaign promises compare with the office's powers?
Candidate forums, questionnaires, and campaign websites tell you what a candidate plans to do in office. Compare those promises with the candidate's record, and with what the office actually has the power to do. You may discover some candidates overpromising on what they can deliver.
Why down-ballot races matter in Minnesota
The officials elected farther down the ballot enforce state law, run elections, check how local governments spend money, and decide what happens in local schools and neighborhoods. The sections below cover what each office does and what's on the ballot in SD14 this year.
What the Minnesota Attorney General does
The attorney general is Minnesota's chief lawyer and represents the state in court. Attorney General Keith Ellison has used that role to challenge federal actions that affect Minnesotans, and as of February, his office had filed more than 50 lawsuits against the Trump administration.
Those cases have produced concrete results for Minnesota families and voters. In February, Ellison secured an agreement that protects roughly $530 million in Minnesota education funding. In June, a federal court sided with Ellison and a coalition of 23 states and declared parts of President Trump's executive order on elections unconstitutional, blocking the federal government from carrying them out for the November 3 election.
What the Minnesota Secretary of State does
The secretary of state oversees elections across Minnesota, including the statewide voter registration system and the tools at mnvotes.gov. On August 17, a federal judge dismissed a U.S. Department of Justice lawsuit that would have forced Minnesota to hand over private data on millions of registered voters, including Social Security and driver's license numbers. Secretary of State Steve Simon had refused the request.
What the Minnesota State Auditor does
The state auditor keeps watch over local government spending, which includes more than $56 billion in activity across Minnesota's cities, counties, and towns, and school districts. Investigating fraud in state programs falls mostly to other offices, including the Office of the Legislative Auditor, the attorney general's Medicaid Fraud Control Unit, and the new Office of the Inspector General.
The seat is open because State Auditor Julie Blaha did not seek reelection. DFL nominee Zack Filipovich is the only accountant in the running for Minnesota State Auditor.
What school boards do and the St. Cloud school board race
School board members oversee their district's policies, budget, and superintendent, and in Minnesota they're elected in nonpartisan races. In the St. Cloud Area School District, six candidates filed for three at-large seats, and all six will appear on the November ballot.
When you read candidate questionnaires, notice how much of each answer covers student learning, the district budget, staffing, and school buildings, and how much covers national political fights. Board members vote on the budget and hire the superintendent, so a candidate's plans for those responsibilities tell you the most about how they'll serve students.
What city councils do and the St. Cloud and Sauk Rapids races
City council members set city budgets and property tax levies, approve zoning, and make decisions about streets and public safety. In September, for example, the St. Cloud City Council voted 7–0 to create 20 mph school zones near Madison Elementary and South Junior High after parents and neighbors raised concerns about speeding.
In St. Cloud, three of the four ward seats are contested this year, including an open seat in Ward 4. In Sauk Rapids, three candidates are running for two at-large council seats.
County offices and soil and water conservation district supervisors
County officials run the jail, prosecute crimes, and administer elections, and several of those offices are contested this year. Benton County's sheriff race is open. Sherburne County has contested races for county attorney, county auditor, and the District 3 commissioner seat. In Stearns County, both contested races are for Soil and Water Conservation District supervisor, an office that works with landowners on soil erosion, water quality, and conservation programs.
How to research judicial candidates in Minnesota
Judicial races are nonpartisan, and information about judicial candidates is harder to find than it is for other offices. About 90 percent of Minnesota judges are first appointed by the governor and then stand for election, and an elected judge serves a six-year term.
Stearns and Benton counties are in the Seventh Judicial District, and Sherburne County is in the Tenth. Candidate profiles on sites like BallotReady list each judge's legal career.
Find your ballot and meet the SD14 DFL candidates
Pull up your sample ballot at mnvotes.gov/myballot, and set aside time this week to work through it one race at a time. To learn about DFL-endorsed candidates running in SD14 and statewide, visit our candidates page. If you'd like to help your neighbors get ready to vote, the SD14 DFL Volunteer Hub lists upcoming events and ways to get involved.
