The League of Women Voters, a non-partisan political organization, encourages informed and active participation in government, works to increase understanding of major public policy issues, and influences public policy through education and advocacy.
Governor Walz has issued a Writ of Special Election to fill a vacancy in House District 40B using the schedule below. House District 40B represents parts of Roseville and Shoreview in Ramsey County. For more information on House District 40B Special Election go the Secretary of States website.
Election Dates
A recording of this program can be found on our YouTube channel.
As a follow-up to the January “Behind the Gavel” program, LWVRA member, Karen Schaffer, will provide an overview of the Federal Judiciary system. Accountability, transparency, independence, and ethics of our Federal Judiciary will be discussed as part of the national LWVUS study currently in progress. League members will find this helpful in preparing to vote on the national LWVUS consensus questions later this spring.
“We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty 
to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.”
Preamble to the United States Constitution, 1787
The Council of Metropolitan Area Leagues will host, on Zoom, Patricia Nauman from Metro Cities Association of Metropolitan Municipalities serving the seven county metropolitan area. Patricia is a well-known municipal advocate at the legislature and extremely knowledgeable regarding the Metropolitan Council. After her remarks,
This forum can be viewed at https://ninenorth.org/speak-outs/.
LWVRA will host a candidate forum for House District 40B Special Election to be held Thursday, January 16, 6:30 – 7:30 p.m. at Roseville City Hall, Council Chamber. Candidates are Paul Wikstrom, R, and David Gottfried, DFL. Because there are only two candidates, there will not be a primary election. General election will be held Tuesday, January 28.
A recording of this program can be found on our YouTube channel.
Join us in-person at the Ramsey County Library - Maplewood (3025 Southlawn Drive), to hear from Minnesota Judicial Branch officials including Second Judicial District Judge Kelly Olmstead (criminal focus) and Judge Leonardo Castro (civil focus), Jennifer L. Frisch Chief Judge designee, Minnesota Court of Appeals, and Justice Theodora Gaïtas from the Minnesota Supreme Court. Learn more, and get your questions answered about this crucial part of our democracy.
There was a spell of a few weeks last spring when I felt a theme in random sightings—Kindness. First, I viewed the animated film based on the charming book by Charlie Mackesy which I loved, The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse. That book gently presents profound ideas, beginning with the mole asking the boy, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” After thinking a moment, the boy replies, not firefighter or doctor, but “Kind.” Ahhh
The children at a preschool/daycare near my home are protected by a chain link fence. They have used those largish, red plastic cups pushed through the holes in the fence to spell out words, like Create Kindness…Each time I drive by I appreciate their message to the neighborhood and hope that they are treated that way each day and develop empathy and kindness that will last a lifetime.
This latest issue of the Council of Metropolitan Area Leagues (CMAL) newsletter has information on:
View newsletter here
