We Have a Race

The 3rd Congressional District is fortunate to have three intelligent and serious candidates for Jim Ramstad's House seat. Republican Erik Paulsen of Eden Prairie, Democrat Ashwin Madia of Maple Grove, and Independent David Dillon of Shorewood are all putting their best feet forward in this race. While Dillon's status as a 3rd party candidate severely hampers his ability to raise funds, all indications are that he is in this to win, just like Paulsen and Madia.

While this blog may endorse a candidate at a later date, for now the objective will be to get the right information into voters' hands. With that, here are a few links that you might want to check out in an effort to better educate you on this major race.

Paulsen's website
Madia's website
Dillon's website
WCCO recent interview with Madia and Paulsen (here and here)
MPR coverage (best balanced local politics coverage available, in my opinion)
Info on upcoming debate by the TwinWest Chamber of Commerce

Of course, there are numerous blogs covering this race as well. I hesitate to link to them because of the skewed coverage you would receive on the candidates. However, if you are willing to spend some time researching and understand that most blog authors are strongly biased, I'd encourage you to Google many of the local politics blogs.

Summer Festival Season in Full Swing

The South Lake’s festival season is in full swing. Already concluded is Art on the Lake, Crazy Day, the 4th of July Celebration, and the Fire Hall dance to name a few. The remainder of July and the months of August and September offer plenty additional opportunities to enjoy the area’s events. Among them (this is not a complete list) are:

August 9: Deephaven Days and Triathlon – http://www.cityofdeephaven.org/
August 4: Tour de Tonka Bike Ride: http://www.minnetonka.k12.mn.us/tourdetonka/Pages/default.aspx
September 6: Apple Days: http://www.southlake-excelsiorchamber.com/calendar.html

This is all in addition to regular happenings such as the Excelsior Commons Thursday evening concerts, Farmers Market, and County Fairs (Waconia has one in early August).