In St. Paul’s historic Rondo neighborhood, city council candidate and Minneapolis NAACP worker Anika Bowie scheduled the launch of her political campaign for Feb. 1, the first day of Black History Month.

The symbolism, as she says in her campaign video, is important, because “women like me aren’t given a seat at the table. We fight for it.”

Across the city, Nelsie Yang’s new campaign finance report shows she has already raised more than $50,000 to run for the Ward 6 seat on the St. Paul City Council. It’s an unusually large amount of money for a first-time candidate this early in the race — and she’s got a similar sense of history in mind.

The self-described “daughter of refugees” said in a campaign statement that she plans to “break chains of oppression in the East Side so that we can build toward racial, gender and economic justice for everyone.”

Macalester-Groveland resident Dave Rosenfeld, who was nominated for the Ward 3 seat by the Socialist Workers Party, is thinking even more globally.

As disappointed as he is in the city’s new $15 minimum wage mandate, which he says will roll out too gradually, he’s just as concerned about American troop levels in Iraq, Afghanistan and Syria.

“To think that the wars going on in the Middle East are not impacting workers here? That’s certainly not the case,” Rosenfeld said.

The off-year, ranked-choice election for city council is still nine months away.

But with 20 declared candidates for the seven council seats, there’s been an unusual amount of campaign activity on the ground.

In fact, some potential candidates already have dropped in and out of the running. By mid-January, candidates had already begun circulating their fundraising totals and key endorsements. For those candidates who have already begun fundraising, initial campaign finance reports were due in January.

So far, identity politics and social issues appear to be recurring themes, even for positions that routinely decide such parochial matters as whether a property owner should be assessed for an uncut lawn or icy sidewalk.

Given the low barrier to entry — campaign filing fees are $250 — more candidates are expected to announce soon.

Though council seats are officially nonpartisan, the St. Paul DFL, a powerful force in local elections, will endorse candidates at ward conventions throughout March, April and May.

The timing has led to pushback from the government watchdog coalition St. Paul Strong. The group wants the city DFL to hold off on endorsements until September, after official candidate filings are due. At that time, all of the candidates who will appear on the ballot will be known. September endorsements, however, would allow just a few weeks of campaigning and fundraising under the party banner, eroding their advantage.

The filing period with Ramsey County Elections runs July 30 through Aug. 13. There will be no political primary before the Nov. 5 election, which will be decided by ranked ballot, and no limit to the number of candidates. Related Articles St. Paul district reports enrollment drop as pandemic moves school online

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In addition to Bowie, candidates in Ward 1 include incumbent Dai Thao, Liz De La Torre and Lucky Rosenbloom.

On Jan. 31, Ward 2 council member Rebecca Noecker’s campaign announced that she had $50,000 in campaign cash on hand.

Perennial candidate Sharon Anderson, a self-declared graduate of the “school of hard knocks” who has run for elected office every year for decades, also plans to seek the Ward 2 seat. Among her platform priorities, Anderson describes herself in rambling, difficult-to-decipher emails as a “loyal Trump supporter” opposed to the “influx of Muslins (sic), same sex, sanctuary state of Minnesota.”

Rosenfeld is running for the Ward 3 seat held by city council member Chris Tolbert, who is seeking re-election.

In Ward 4, where council member Mitra Nelson won a special election last August, challenger Tarrence Robertson-Bayless recently withdrew from the race.

City council President Amy Brendmoen and Lynn Connolly both plan to file for the Ward 5 seat.

Dan Bostrom, who held the Ward 6 seat for 20 years, stepped down unexpectedly at the end 2018, leaving the field wide open. So far, five candidates have announced their intent to run for his seat: Yang, Terri Thao, Alex Bourne, Tony Her and Danielle Swift.