Not all candidates campaign for themselves
Many candidates for elected office spend months spreading their message any way they can in hope of winning their race. So what do candidates do when they don’t have an opponent? For Minnesota House Rep. Steve Elkins, who ran unopposed in his bid for reelection to House District 50B, the 2026 campaign was much like his past campaigns. That included canvassing his west Bloomington district. But sans a challenger for the seat, he was able to dedicate extra time to campaigning outside of his district, something he does each election season. The Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party identified 21 Minnesota House districts it identified as important battlegrounds. Several were districts held by a DFL legislator that warranted extra effort to defend. The remainder were districts the party was looking to flip from the Republican Party, according to Elkins. Beyond the candidates and their campaign teams, party loyalists helped spread the word about the DFL candidate in select districts around the state. And Elkins traveled to all 21 of those battlegrounds at least once during the 2026 campaign to stump for the DFL candidate. His travels took him to Ely, Austin and Winona, and points in between. Some of those trips took him to
