From left to right: Katie Jones, Will Stancil and Isabel Rolfes spoke to voters in House District 61A. All three are seeking to replace Rep. Frank Hornstein in the Minnesota House. Photos by Michelle Griffith/Minnesota Reformer.
A Democratic primary race for a Minnesota House seat could help answer a puzzling question: Is Twitter — or X, as it’s now known — real life?
Will Stancil, a University of Minnesota legal researcher and candidate in 61A, is also a prolific X.com poster who has become one of the platform’s most well-known pugilists, regularly opining on authoritarianism, the economy and the modern conservative movement.
Katie Jones and Isabel Rolfes, also candidates in the 61A primary, have taken a Midwestern nice approach and refrained from openly attacking Stancil for his provocative tweets. In one post after the U.S. Supreme Court’s presidential immunity ruling, Stancil wrote and then later deleted, “Is there any reason Biden couldn’t just drone strike Trump and end this.” (Stancil in a text message said the tweet was meant as a “legal question about the [decision’s] absence of any limiting principle.”)
Jones has a record of working on climate and transit policy in the district. Rolfes is the legislative aide to House Majority Leader Jamie Long, DFL-Minneapolis.
Stancil, meanwhile, is quick to emphasize his focus on local issues like housing and economic development and his offline grassroots operation. Still, the prospect of a highly charged, nationally known Twitter personality in the Minnesota DFL House caucus looms over the race, which has attracted lots of money and volunteers.
Jones, Rolfes and Stancil are seeking to replace Rep. Frank Hornstein, the venerated legislator, who is known around the Capitol for his joyous presence and major policy footprint on transportation issues.
House District 61A is a deep blue Minneapolis district, which includes Uptown, Loring Park, Bryn Mawr, Lowry Hill, East Isles, Elliot Park and part of downtown Minneapolis. Whoever wins the primary election is likely to win the general election in November, so the stakes are high for the three candidates — all of whom are under 40. The winner, unburdened by difficult reelection campaigns, will be well positioned to rapidly become an important policy playmaker in the caucus.
Hornstein has refrained from endorsing a successor, and no candidate received the DFL endorsement at the Minneapolis DFL convention.
At the Lake of the Isles Lutheran Church earlier this month, Jones, Rolfes and Stancil attempted to differentiate themselves from one another.
They avoided negative attacks, but Jones and Rolfes verbally subtweeted Stancil, seemingly criticizing his Twitter presence while not calling him out by name.
“What we say on (social media) has consequence … When we’re in elected office, what we say holds more weight and we have to take that responsibility very seriously,” Jones said during the candidate forum.
Rolfes added: “We do need to be really careful and cognizant about what we’re posting. The DFL is a team. If one person says something on social media, it affects the entire party and our ability to govern.”
Stancil’s face visibly reddened during the remarks about his online presence, but the message didn’t appear to land among the forum attendees, many of whom may not have been aware of his Twitter celebrity or his boisterous virtual persona.
Stancil’s Twitter has also caused his primary opponents to bear the brunt of online vitriol.
Shortly after Hornstein announced his retirement, Jones started getting harassed on Twitter. Full-on Nazis sought to make trouble for Stancil by pretending they were his supporters. They went after Jones in an attempt to associate Stancil with Nazism and white supremacy, and attacked Rolfes as well.
An independent expenditure committee — United 61A Neighbors — registered with the state recently with the apparent goal of defeating Stancil in the primary.
In its pre-primary campaign finance report, United 61A Neighbors reported receiving a lone $3,000 donation from the Unidos We Win Pac.
“Will Stancil is busy chasing Twitter clout when he should be listening to our communities. We deserve better from our elected leaders,” the group said .
The 5th Congressional District primary — featuring U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar against former Minneapolis City Councilman Don Samuels — could drive up turnout, but the winner will likely be the candidate with the most effective door knocking operation.
Here’s what you need to know about the Democratic candidates running for House District 61A:
Katie Jones
Jones is a lobbyist with the nonprofit Center for Energy and Environment. For the past few years, she’s lobbied at the Capitol on energy conservation and, in 2023, she worked with Hornstein to include carbon emission reduction policy in his transportation bill.
Jones, 36, is from a small town in rural Indiana, and she said she’s running because she values getting things done and advocating for her community.
“I care about people and the planet and about standing up for this community and showing up for this community,” Jones told the Reformer in a recent interview.
Jones ran for Minneapolis City Council in 2021, but she lost to now-Council Vice President Aisha Chughtai.
In her pre-primary campaign finance report, Jones reported receiving over $60,000 in donations this year, and as of July 22 she had about $17,000 cash on hand. Jones has been endorsed by Faith in Minnesota — ISAIAH’s political arm — and Attorney General Keith Ellison.
If elected, her top issues include public safety, supporting Minneapolis’ public schools and reimagining how downtown’s emptied out office space can be utilized. She also wants to create incentives to bring people and businesses back to downtown and Uptown.
Jones touts her experience getting deep in the weeds of drafting legislation and creating policy.
“We can do big, bold things in Minnesota,” Jones said, “but in a practical and measured way that Minnesotans can get on board with, and so that’s the type of leadership that I want to bring.”
Isabel Rolfes
Rolfes, 25, was born in India and adopted at four months. She grew up in Brainerd and graduated from the University of St. Thomas. She has worked for various DFL campaigns, including the 2022 Senate campaign that delivered the DFL a one-seat majority.
She’s received the greatest number of endorsements from state lawmakers, including Reps. Kaela Berg of Burnsville, Sandra Feist of New Brighton and Sen. Clare Oumou Verbeten of St. Paul. House Majority Leader Jamie Long and Minneapolis Sen. Scott Dibble — who represents the district in the Senate — haven’t endorsed Rolfes or any other candidate.
Rolfes said her top issues include education, climate and infrastructure. She said she’s uniquely qualified because she’s personally helped write bills as Long’s legislative aide (although Jones says she also has this experience).
“I actually taught a lot of freshmen members last cycle how to get their bills passed,” Rolfes told the Reformer . “Because I’ve taught a handful of people how to do that job, I know that I can do that job day one.”
Rolfes has raised over $42,000 in donations this year and had nearly $11,000 cash on hand as of last week. Rolfes said she believes she can unify the district, as it includes both progressive and moderate Democrats.
“If you’re an incredibly far-left person elected to the House, you’re not going to make the entire House caucus further left,” Rolfes said.
Will Stancil
Stancil is a scholar of racial segregation at the University of Minnesota, and he has over 88,000 followers on Twitter. Stancil says the majority of the district’s voters are unaware of his online reputation.
The 39-year-old said he’s running because he’s seen how Uptown has struggled in the 15 years he’s lived in the city, and he’s become disheartened about Minneapolis Public Schools losing enrollment. He’s also troubled with the state of the nation’s politics.
“2016 to 2020 was nightmare-ish. I laid awake every night, and I felt scared to death about Donald Trump. Hopefully this won’t happen again, but if it does it would be really nice to be somewhere where I can at least speak up and try to keep people safe. You know, say ‘Can’t touch my neighbors, can’t come here,’” Stancil told the Reformer .
He’s endorsed by Carpenters Local 322 and former Minneapolis City Councilwoman Lisa Goodman, who was regarded as the council’s most conservative member when she retired.
Stancil’s online presence has likely helped his fundraising: He has raised the most money compared to his primary opponents, earning over $92,000 this year with over $50,000 cash on hand as of last week.
Stancil said his top issues include public education, supporting businesses and protecting civil rights.
He acknowledged that if he is elected, he would “turn stuff down” on his Twitter and engage with his followers differently. Asked if he’s concerned his Twitter could become a liability for the House DFL caucus in November if he wins the primary, Stancil said, “You can take anything out of context.”
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