______________UPDATE_____________
Other names I will be voting for but not shown in the signage: Reelect Secretary of State Mark Ritchie. Reelect Attorney General Lori Swanson. Elect Peter Perovich for State Senate SD48. Elect for Ramsey Council At Large, Terri Cleveland. Reelect for Ramsey Ward 1, David Elvig.
The first three on that list are easy choices based on merit and especially Perovich's case, opposition merit. Cleveland is a luke-warm "the better choice" preference; Elvig is my selection in the "lesser evil" category.
Brad Johnson, for the soon to be vacant Anoka County Attorney seat is favored among two sound choices; Johnson having family ties to the area and the office, but his having the background of work out of state in the private sector and as a presently active trial vs. office-only lawyer, prosecuting white collar crime for Mike Freeman's Hennepin County Attorney's office vs. years in the present office, civil side where "the board is the client" and where Tony Palumbo seems to have become placed within the existing old boy network to which Brad Johnson owes nothing - that juxtaposition tips the scales for me, as well as favoring the younger new face in County affairs when all other things are close to equal. I would hope that Johnson, if elected, would not be turning a blind eye to white collar crime either in the private sector or by officials, when/if it is uncovered on his watch and in need of prosecution. In that sense, I hold the same hope regarding whichever of the two is elected.
Natalie Steffen has represented the Met Council in ways I disagree with which overlap to an extent the things about Elvig that trouble me. However, I clearly see Steffen as a person fundamentally possessed of a sound social conscience and an entirely valid and realistic demeanor, belief set, and understanding toward public fiscal truth and needs, as well as having a fair sensitivity for the hardships endured by the less fortunate in our society and by those currently suffering joblessness and/or foreclosure fallout from the Bush-Cheney precipitated depression.
Steffen, although a Republican, nonetheless is the clearly better choice for Anoka County Board District 1. Elvig, although a Republican with a track record in Ramsey that I find troublesome and out of line with my own preferences, is the better choice from my perspective, for Ramsey's Ward 1. It's how I read future likelihoods, in a broad sense, so you read your own tea leaves or crystal ball however you want to.
__________FURTHER UPDATE___________
This paragraph about Brad Johnson, from here, caught my attention:
Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman brought Brad back to Minnesota to tackle some of the toughest financial-crime cases in the Twin Cities, such as identity theft, mortgage fraud, organized crime, public corruption and the exploitation of the elderly. His results in those cases speak for themselves.
[emphasis added]. A candidate who expressly makes attentiveness to public corruption a key goal of a county attorney's duties is one I can place faith in, with the hope that the aim will be met and is not gratuitous rhetoric for the election. I had an opportunity to speak with Johnson and he appears entirely trustworthy and dedicated when he talks about white collar crime and a need for statewide attention to it. I think his record in Freeman's office backs up his word. I like the prospect of a prosecutor who might believe as I do that cronyism can become criminal in public service and that it should not be tolerated even when it stands as an evil falling somewhat short of being indictable crime. The discretionary decision of what to pursue as crime in the community, when it comes to white collar marginal behavior, is one I would trust Brad Johnson making. In saying that I should note I have no basis in fact to believe Tony Palumbo would be as aggressive, or less aggressive, in that decision-making role. He is favored by the old boys.