Well, I lost another friend last week when Congressman Jim Hagedorn died from cancer.

I met him, of course, when he moved to Blue Earth with the intention of running for Congress in the First Congressional District. I guess we first met because I was the newspaper editor and he was a candidate running for office and he wanted to tell me about it so I would write about it. Which, of course, I did.

But it grew into more than that.

Our discussions would start off about his running for office, and politics, but would also go into conversations about our lives, where we had lived, religion, history of Blue Earth, and maybe more about local, state and national politics, too.

We did not see eye to eye on all things, but that made the conversations more interesting to both of us. He was willing to listen to my views on the world and listen to stories of my life, as much as wanting to tell me his.

Quite a few times our conversations started in my office but then moved to Oswald’s Brewery where the discussion often got more in-depth…and fun.

We had already made plans to have one of our visits in the new brewery coming to Blue Earth. Sadly, that is now not ever going to happen.

It is also sad that after Jim worked so hard, for so long, to be elected to Congress, his time there was cut short by cancer.

Now a new congressman is going to be elected in the First District, and if you read the story about it on the front page this week, you might be a little confused. I know I was while I researched it and then wrote it.

So let me try to simplify it.

Let us say I am going to run for Congress and take over Jim Hagedorn’s seat. And let’s say I am going to run as a Demican, and not a Republicrat. (A couple of fake-name political parties for the sake of this example.)

First off, if I want to fill out the last five months of Jim Hagedorn’s term, I need to file between March 1 and March 15 to get on the ballot.

If another Demican or two also file, then there is going to be a primary election on May 24 to see which Demican’s name will be on the ballot for a Special Election on Aug. 9 (which, by the way, just happens to be Primary Election day). If I am elected, I will serve for just five months, from August through December.

Now, if I want to do more than just fill out Jim’s term, and have my own 2-year term in office, I need to file separately to do that. Again, if other Demicans also file, there will be a runoff in the Primary Election on Aug. 9.

You got it, that means my name would be on two different ballots on Aug. 9. The Special Election ballot to vote for me to fill out the term till December, and the Primary Election one to put me on the November General Election and then take office in January if elected.

Confused yet? There is more.

I don’t have to file for both elections, I can choose one or the other. I am leaning towards just filing for filling out the term because I would only have to serve in Congress for five months and would not have to put up with all the politics and yelling and baloney for a full two years.

But there’s even more to this scenario.

I need to live in Minnesota’s current First Congressional District in order to file for the Aug. 9 Special Election. But I need to live in the new First Congressional District to file for the November General Election.

Luckily, I live in a place that will be a part of both the current and new district following redistricting. But some folks don’t, so they might be able to file for one election but not the other.

So, are you now totally confused, or have I cleared some of this up for you?

As long as we are discussing politics, how about I explain the new state legislative redistricting plan?

I saw that eye roll and heard that groan.

But it is fairly simple.

For those of us who live in Faribault County it is this: If you live in Winnebago, Delavan, Blue Earth or the surrounding areas you were in District 23A but now will be in District 22A. If you live in Easton, Frost, Bricelyn and the surrounding areas you were in District 23A and you still are going to be in District 23A, but you won’t have Bjorn Olson as your state rep because he is now in 22A. If you live in Wells, Walters, Kiester and nearby areas you were in District 27A and now you will be in District 23A.

Uffda.

I had high hopes the new redistricting plan would put all of Faribault County in one district, but that didn’t happen. Not for Faribault County or hardly any other county in our area. They’re all split up.

Well, that’s politics for you. And I hope you are not too disappointed when you don’t actually see my name on any ballots this year. I just realized I don’t have the drive or desire to get elected like Jim Hagedorn did.

And, I’m sure going to miss those visits with him.