Editor's viewpoint: Woodbury candidates will be focus

This week you’ll notice something new on the Bulletin’s opinion pages.

We’re debuting a series of columns by local legislative candidates. The series kicks off with incumbent Rep. Andrea Kieffer, R-Woodbury, featured just below on this page.

The Bulletin reached out to candidates in Senate District 53, House District 53A and House District 53B. With local endorsing conventions out of the way, we figured now is a good a time to learn about the candidates. It’s possible new candidates will emerge to force primary elections. If that becomes the case, we will solicit columns from those candidates, too.

While we know many readers are already aware of the candidates they’ll be voting for in a few months, we know that’s not a universal truth, and that’s why we offered the candidates an opportunity to share their backgrounds. It’s our belief that one of a newspaper’s chief responsibilities is to do its best to maintain an informed electorate.

Look for more columns to follow. They’re being printed on a first-come, first-serve basis.

This campaign season also marks a change in coverage for the Bulletin. We’ll be tamping down coverage on political activity from the Lake Elmo area, including the race between Rep. Kathy Lohmer, R-Lake Elmo, and her Democratic challenger, Tom DeGree.

The coverage made sense for the past decade, when Senate District 56 and House District 56A dipped into Woodbury. Redistricting changed all that. The new Senate District 39 is more rooted in northern Washington County and has less bearing on the Bulletin’s core readership.

That said, the Bulletin will provide some coverage of House District 39B and House District 54B — which includes Afton — as is warranted.

Tags: opinion, updates, viewpoint