CHANHASSEN, Minn. — Before there were trick-or-treaters in Chanhassen and Chaska Thursday, there were two other people knocking on doors asking not for candy, but for votes.
DFL Rep. Lucy Rehm and GOP challenger Caleb Steffenhagen are in the final sprint to the finish trying to shore up as much support as possible in this sliver of the state. Rehm is seeking her second term, and Steffenhagen — a political newcomer — is looking to unseat her and help Republicans win back a majority in the state House.
All 134 seats in the chamber are on the ballot this fall. But only about a dozen — like District 48B covering all of Chanhassen and parts of Chaska — are competitive. Roughly half of those are in the Twin Cities metro.
Local races like this one don’t grab headlines, but the outcome impacts school funding, taxes, health and human services and much more. Control of the state legislature is at stake and voters in these battlegrounds will decide if total DFL control of state government should stay or go.