Minnesota Preparing for a New Governor
Candidates’ Websites Help Inform Voters
by Andrew Pooch
It is officially less than a month until Minnesota will know who will be the next governor. The three candidates in the conversation for governor are Mark Dayton, Tom Emmer and Tom Horner. Voters can this time to explore the top candidates and see what each has to offer.
The most popular way to be informed is to visit each candidate’s Website. The candidate’s share their positions on the issues, plans to fix them, information about them and their running partner and ways to help the campaign.
Mark Dayton has a slogan of, “Mark Dayton for a Better Minnesota.” He explains on his Website how Minnesota has entered into a crisis. He feels that he can get our state out of this.
He has noticed unfortunate change in education, employment and taxes throughout our state and wants to make those changes. The slideshow on his homepage shows him talking with voters, wearing the same thing as them – flannel, blue jeans, rolled up sleeves. He is trying to fit the image of blue-collar. The next picture is Dayton in a suit, helping in the classroom.
His website has navigation tabs entitled: “Meet Mark,” “Meet Yvonne,” “On the Issues,” “News and Multimedia,” “Get Involved,” and “Contact.” The organization of Dayton’s Website is easy to navigate. It’s helpful that his stances on the issues are laid out for voters to easily understand.
Tom Emmer has a slogan of “A New Direction.” He wants Minnesotans to know that he is focused on family. His family was able to be prosperous in Minnesota, and he wants the next generation to be the same. This theme is evident since his family is pictured on the banner that appears on every page.
His webpage has a blog style. Updates for new media are visible on the homepage. His website has a navigation bar with tabs reading: “About the Team,” “Budget,” “The Issues,” “Take Action,” “News,” “Events” and “Connect.” Emmer uses a subtle arrangement that has flow and readability. The information to navigate his site is at the top, and then when voters scroll down they can see articles and events to read about.
Tom Horner is running as an independent. He feels that Minnesota shouldn’t have its future burdened by partisan politics. Horner says Minnesota is a great state and feels it can get better with him in office. Horner uses Dayton’s and Emmer’s Websites to make his better.
He incorporated why he is running, like Dayton. Then he has a page of his life history and importance of family, like Emmer. His Website is also set up the same as the other two, he has a navigation bar with tabs reading: “Meet Tom Horner,” “Issues,” “Events,” “On The Trail,” “News” and “Horner’s Corner.” Horner’s Website is cluttered. There are too many contrasting colors with loud fonts. He has the less important stuff bolded and in larger tabs than the more important issues that voters are actually searching for.
Nate Silver of the New York Times has created a forecast of how the election is predicted to turn out. The predicted election results have Dayton with 45%, Emmer at 40% and Horner earning 12% of the vote. Silver has then calculated the percentage chance of each candidate winning. Dayton is at 70%, Emmer at 22% and Horner at 0%.
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