In 46B, a provisional DFL race takes shape

In the nine years since Rep. Steve Simon first won election to represent suburban House District 46B, the district — which includes the city of Hopkins and part of St. Louis Park — has grown more dynamic and diverse, according to Simon.

Now, as he aspires to win the DFL endorsement for secretary of state in 2014, and thus leave behind his seat, two DFL candidates have already begun campaigning for a shot at taking his place: Eric Margolis, a systems analyst/developer and state DFL outreach officer; and Cheryl Youakim, a legislative committee administrator and Hopkins City Council member.

Simon, who says he will run for re-election to his House seat if he is not endorsed for secretary of state at next year’s state DFL convention, has not endorsed a possible successor. Both Youakim and Margolis count him as an ally, and both have said they will abide by the party endorsement process.

Youakim, who has also served on the DFL Central Committee, said she would bring a “balanced approach” to representing the district.

“It can’t just be you standing up and saying what needs to happen,” she said. “I’ve learned over my time on the city council that you need to work with those around you to get things done.”

Margolis, who is making his first attempt at elected public office, said his primary strength is his commitment to opening up the political process to more people.

“I’ve dedicated my political life to including folks in the political process,” he said. “Not only those who are already inside the party but those on the outside, too.”

Margolis a state party officer

As a Hopkins resident for the past decade, Margolis said it has been a challenge to be politically involved as a single father with children while working in a full-time technology career. It’s one of the things that led him to run for outreach officer and is a factor in his legislative candidacy, he said.

“I know firsthand how difficult it is to be involved in the process,” he said. “I want to be on the floor when votes are being cast that affect people like me, who may not have time to speak up.”

Margolis has done “more to grow the party than anybody besides [DFL Party Chair] Ken Martin” in recent years, said Vanessa Olson, Margolis’ campaign chair and a close friend.

Olson, who ran Simon’s 2010 re-election campaign and was elected DFL party secretary in 2011 alongside Margolis (but resigned from the volunteer position after taking a new job), said she expects Margolis to run an impassioned but respectful campaign.

On the issues, Margolis lists education as a top priority.

“I’ve seen as a parent what happens as funding is eroded over time, even in a great school district like Hopkins,” he said. “I’m proud of the DFL Legislature for restoring funding to school districts, but there’s more work to do, especially on closing the opportunity gap.”

He also supports a minimum wage raise “preferably beyond $9.50 an hour, but we’ll see,” increased vocational training in post-secondary and technical colleges, and a resolution to the Southwest Corridor Light Rail planning that works for Hopkins and St. Louis Park.

Youakim focuses on early childhood

Before her eight years on the Hopkins City Council (she was just re-elected this fall), Youakim began her community involvement as an advocate for early childhood education funding and prekindergarten readiness programs as a parent.

“The more I learned about quality early child care and education, the more I realized it’s the most effective way to narrow the achievement gap,” she said.

Youakim started a small early childhood education nonprofit in 2003, volunteered on Simon’s first House campaign in 2004, ran Ron Latz’s 2006 state Senate campaign, and now serves as his Judiciary Committee administrator at the Legislature.

Along the way, she ran into then-state Sen. Steve Kelley, who met her at a community march and was “impressed with her level of energy [and] willingness to take on a leadership role as a young mom,” Kelley said.

The current University of Minnesota Humphrey School of Public Policy senior fellow signed on as Youakim’s campaign chair, and said he’s sure she will stay close to the people she represents, if elected.

As a city council member, Youakim has served on the committee selecting a path for the proposed Southwest Corridor Light Rail line. It’s a task that hasn’t yet been completed to her satisfaction, she said.

“It has to be done to not overly harm Hopkins or St. Louis Park, and [Gov. Mark Dayton’s proposal] rerouting freight trains through St. Louis Park, there’s currently no safe way to do that,” she said.

Early childhood, K-12 education and higher education would be Youakim’s other top priorities at the Legislature, and she also supports a healthy minimum wage increase, she said.

If elected to the Legislature, Youakim would resign her city council seat, she said.

District has changed

Simon’s district has trended toward the Democratic side of the political column throughout his tenure, and has also seen an influx of new immigrant cultures adding to its traditional middle-class suburban background.

The race is not likely to feature significant differences on policy, but distinctions of style and service will arise, Olson said.

“Cheryl and Eric are both good friends, and both have done different things for the same goal of building the DFL party and furthering its values,” she said. “When it comes down to what each has done for the party, that’ll be where we can highlight differences.”

Youakim is well-known and respected as a curious and thoughtful policymaker in Hopkins, Kelley said. But door-knocking and getting supporters to the precinct caucuses in February will be the decisive factor in the race, he added.

Not knowing whether Simon is still in the running until later next year is a complicating factor, but one the district faced previously when Kelley sought the DFL endorsement for governor and then for attorney general back in 2006 while also up for legislative re-election, he said.

Party officials postponed the endorsement process until Kelley decided not to seek re-election to his Senate seat, he said.

A final complicating factor could be the absence, so far, of a candidate from the St. Louis Park side of the district seeking endorsement, Kelley said.

“That could shake things up,” he said.