A Minnesota Commentary
Kid Reporter takes on negative campaigning
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| Democratic Senate candidate Amy Klobuchar and her family greet well-wishers at a victory celebration in St. Paul, Minnesota, on November 7, 2006. (Photo: Tom Olmscheid/AP Images) |
November 8, 2006
This fall in Minnesota the races for state and national offices were close.
In an open seat for U.S. Senate, Democrat Amy Klobucher defeated Republican Mark Kennedy. The two were battling to replace Democratic Senator Mark Dayton, who unexpectedly retired this year.
Kennedy was trying to move from the House of Representatives to the Senate. An elected prosecutor in Hennepin County, Klobucher became the first woman elected to the Senate in Minnesota.
The race for Governor was still too close to call by the next morning. Democratic challenger Mike Hatch and incumbent Governor Tim Pawlenty, a Republican, appeared to be neck and neck in the votes. Pawlenty has been Governor since 2002.
Many people don’t like election time. The candidates say mean things about each other and there are a lot of annoying TV commercials that seem too cheesy. By watching those commercials and listening to speeches, we have to judge people and decide who will do the most for us and make our communities better places to live.
We rely on those people who are elected and we need to be able to trust them and their decisions. That’s why we take elections so seriously. That’s also why we have to pay attention to the races.
Minnesotans were not the only ones interested in their state elections this year. With control of the House and Senate at stake, close races in this Midwestern state caught the attention of the entire nation.
Caitlin Orgon is a member of the Scholastic Kids Press Corps.
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