Courting Trouble

Paul Demko

Ramsey County District Court Judge Elena Ostby faces two challengers in next week's primary election

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More About

• Jay Benanav
• U.S. Republican Party
• Paul Godfrey
• U.S. Republican Party Politics
• U.S. Politics

For her part, Ostby believes she's being targeted because she's not widely known by the public. "I think number one, I didn't have the name recognition of a career politician," she says. "For somebody who is politically astute, obviously they want a competitor who isn't well-known politically and doesn't have those ties and connections."

But Ostby seems to be faring pretty well for a non-politician. She's glad-handed potential voters at six parades and thrown out the ceremonial "last pitch" at a St. Paul Saints game. For the final weeks of the primary campaign, she's cut her work schedule down to one day per week in order to knock on constituent doors during the daytime hours. Her website even features a photograph of the judge with two Yorkie-poo dogs. Which undoubtedly means that, despite her protestations to the contrary, Ostby now officially qualifies as a politician.