Early challenge in West Duluth House race

Clokey to run for Jaros’ seat
Duluth News Tribune

Following this election’s trend of earlier-than-ever campaigning, Brandon Clokey on Tuesday announced his bid for the Minnesota House’s District 7B seat, held by longtime DFL Rep. Mike Jaros.

Clokey, a 37-year-old residential designer, said he wanted to “ride the coattails” of excitement about this year’s contentious presidential and U.S. Senate races. He said he also wanted to tap into the enthusiasm Duluthians displayed in November for electing members of the 30-something set.

“I have the utmost respect for [Jaros], but he’s been there 32 years,” Clokey said, emphasizing that he wants to bring change to the Legislature.

Clokey, who has worked with Life House Center and Churches United in Ministry, identified reducing levels of homelessness and poverty among his top priorities.

“I’m very disturbed by a system designed for people to fail,” he said. “It doesn’t work when you have stereotypical multimillionaires deciding how to deal with poverty when they have no real-life experience.”

Clokey is also outreach coordinator for the Duluth Fathering Project and board president of the Hillsider Newspaper. The father of three was born and raised in Ohio and has lived in Duluth since 2004. Because it is so early, Clokey said he has yet to do any fundraising or to put together campaign staff.

What isn’t clear in the story is whether this is a primary challenge or if Clokey is running in a different party for the general election. The tone suggests a DFL primary. In any event, I don’t know that Jaros is in danger yet, but this is something to watch. All the House and Senate seats in Districts 3, 5, 6 and 7 are solid DFL, so the only thing to watch are the primaries. 7B may be the only show in town unless something changes.