Internet celebrity colors one state House primary in Minneapolis

Hyperlocal media and online fame have made an otherwise ignorable primary race for a safe Democratic seat in the Legislature almost unavoidable in some corners of Twin Cities social media.

But the three Democrats running to replace retiring Minneapolis DFL Rep. Frank Hornstein insist the real campaign is happening where it always has: on voters' doorsteps.

"The majority of this race is taking place in the field," said candidate Katie Jones, who works for the Center for Energy and Environment. "I think local races, generally, that's where people engage with them."

District 61A, which includes neighborhoods in Uptown and downtown Minneapolis, is very tuned into politics and the news, observed candidate Will Stancil, with lots of opinions on neighborhood issues — like construction on Hennepin Avenue and police hiring.

And the area is well-served by hyperlocal news and social media power users, who help shape those conversations about issues and candidates.

"Local races need to be covered," said candidate Isabel Rolfes, who works for House Majority Leader Jamie Long. But she worried a race getting a lot of attention from people online, especially outside the district, can distort the conversation, making the race more about perceptions of the candidates' personalities and less about issues.

And there are other downsides.

Stancil has a major following on X, formerly Twitter, with of tens of thousands of followers — and a handful of people who seem to hate him.

When Stancil entered the race, the people who don't like him tried to tank his candidacy, he said, by pretending they liked him and harassing Jones and Rolfes, to "muddy the waters," he said.

"Unfortunately, the brunt of it was felt for a few weeks by my opponents," Stancil said.

Jones said in an email she received "horrific, misogynistic threats." In a February social media post, Jones referenced Stancil's presence. "This race is experiencing an unprecedented online dynamic given the unique makeup of the field — look at my mentions and you'll see what I mean," the post read.

Rolfes said it got ugly for her too, to the point where she was receiving threats that made reference to places she had been.

"The concept of an online campaign is really cool until you realize there are people behind the scenes who have bad intentions," she said. "I think this race is a good warning to people of what happens online when you're in the public eye."

Stancil said he thought addressing the vitriol at the time would only have made it worse. After a few weeks, those people lost interest in Stancil's campaign, he said, and the race reverted to residents and their issues.

Social media still plays a role. In recent days, hyperlocal news site WedgeLIVE reported on anti-Stancil mailers referring to his posts.

And Rolfes noted people who might not otherwise be politically engaged have seen posts and videos about the race.

But for most of the district, the candidates agreed, the social media conversations have not been a big deal for voters, and all three have focused their time on canvassing neighborhoods. Jones and Stancil both said they had knocked on more than 17,000 doors as of one week before the primary. Rolfes said she was only able to take off work to campaign full-time the final week before the election.

Rolfes noted that many residents she reaches have also spoken with staff or volunteers from Rep. Ilhan Omar's campaign, also working furiously to drive turnout for the primary in Uptown and downtown neighborhoods.

Stancil said he decided he would not focus his campaign online. Instead, he sought out neighborhood influencers — not in the internet sense of the word, but people who were well-known in the area and who share opinions on local politics.

"When I'm at a door, someone will say I'm going to vote for you because all my neighbors are going to vote for you," Stancil said. "It's word of mouth, filtered through the community."

Some corners of social media are saturated with the 61A primary, but Jones said most voters she's met haven't heard about the conversation on X.

"There is a portion of the district that's online and there's a large portion of the district who doesn't know what's happening," she said. "The majority of people I talk to are hearing about it through hyperlocal sources, or just word of mouth."