A campaign we can all get behind.
BLAINE, Minn. -- How often is it you hear a politician urging people not to vote for him?
That's exactly what's going on in a Minneapolis-St. Paul suburb, where Paul Herold no longer wants the City Council seat for which he's running.
After entering the primary, Herold got a new job that he said doesn't leave time for him to be on the council. But he missed the cutoff for pulling his name from the ballot. Despite his best efforts not to get votes, he ran second in a three-way primary race. So, like it or not, he's on next month's ballot against the incumbent, Katherine Kolb.
"I tried my best not to get any votes," he said.
"Here are the only ways I can get off the ballot: A. I'd have to die; B. I'd have to move out of the district," he said.
"Unfortunately, once he's on the ballot, there's nothing we can do," Blaine City Clerk Jane Cross told the St. Paul Pioneer Press.
Blaine increased its filing fee to $50 a few years ago, in part to make sure candidates running for office understood it was a serious responsibility, Cross told the newspaper.
Herold is now so desperate not to get elected he's offering to drive friends and neighbors to the polls to vote for his opponent.
Should he win, Herold could refuse to serve. That would force a $30,000 special election he's hoping to avoid.
From the Weekend Pundit, welcome back.
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