Campaigns

An anonymous flier in Maplewood last week targeting openly gay city council candidate Jim Llanas has raised a ruckus in advance of Tuesday’s city election. But the situation in Maplewood is not unique: LGBT candidates across the country are facing anonymous attacks. The sad part is, they often work.

When Maplewood city council candidate Jim Llanas told the Minnesota Independent this summer, “Brace yourself. It’s just going to get ugly,” he wasn’t far off the mark. An anonymous flier being distributed about Llanas, who would be both the first openly gay and the first Hispanic city council member in the city’s history, is being described as racist and homophobic by a progressive group and a city council member.

Sen. Hillary Clinton joined 2,200 supporters of Al Franken at the University of Minnesota on Tuesday evening to support his bid for U.S. Senate. A slew of DFL politicians rallied the crowd, all with a singular message — Franken is the key to a 60-seat, filibuster-proof Senate.