Making History

The candidates themselves are running flat-out. Ellis has quit his job at the school district to devote himself to campaigning full-time. Moran comes home from work and knocks on doors every evening. Even Sundays, which used to be reserved for church and family, are increasingly being swallowed by the demands of the campaign.

What makes both sides so frantic is that nobody has any idea who's winning. There's been no scientific polling in the race, and while the campaigns are gleaning some information from their relentless phone banking and door-knocking operations, the picture is hardly clear.

Nick Vlcek

Jeremiah Ellis wants to be the first African American to represent St. Paul in the statehouse

Nick Vlcek

Rena Moran entered the race late but is gaining ground

Like this Story?

Sign up for the Weekly Newsletter: Our weekly feature stories, movie reviews, calendar picks and more - minus the newsprint and sent directly to your inbox.

Privacy Policy Cancel Continue

"What we're seeing is a huge number of undecideds," says Patrick Ness, Moran's campaign manager. "A huge amount of this race is going to come down to who can get out the vote better on Election Day."

It's easy to see why: Of the 36,000 people in the district, only about 2,400 have voted in each of the recent primaries. The primary is especially early this year, making turnout likely to be tepid.

Both camps say they want to run a clean race, but as the pressure mounts, there have been ugly whisper campaigns on both sides. In some corners, Moran is being portrayed as an interloper, an implant from Chicago whose former homelessness and reliance on state assistance are an embarrassment. Meanwhile, Ellis's critics snipe that he exacerbated and even caused the gaping achievement gap between black and white students during his tenure in the St. Paul schools.

"The truth of the matter is, this isn't the kind of race where there's a huge amount of policy difference between the candidates," Spaulding says.

In the absence of substantive disagreements, the candidates are running on their personal histories. Ellis presents himself as young, energetic, and anointed by the appropriate people. He emphasizes his ability to moderate differing viewpoints without coming to blows, a diplomatic skill he says is critical in the statehouse. Moran tackles issues from the street level up, unafraid to roll up her sleeves and gird for a fight.

"They're both valid approaches to effecting change," Spaulding says. "You need both. The question is, which do voters think is going to work better in the Legislature?"