There are 18 school board candidates for five open seats; who will you vote for?

Ready or not, the 2022 election season is upon us, and by next week, early voting will be available for those interested in doing so.
If they haven’t been paying attention, Luverne School District voters will be surprised and a little overwhelmed by a list of 18 candidates vying for five open seats on the Luverne School Board.
There are 15 seeking election to four open seats with four-year terms. They are Eric Hartman (the incumbent) Michael DeBates, Heather Johnson, Jason Schear, Amber Lais, Matt Goembel, Amber Nath, Jacob Hartz, Austin Kurtz, Brett Hood, Zach Nolz, Randy Sasker, Maggie Siebenahler, Josh Gangestad and Scott Wessels.
Three others are seeking election to an open seat that has two years remaining on the term. They are Ryan DeBates, Maggie Vanderburg and Matthew Van Grootheest.
Know these people?
Would any of them be good for our school district leadership? What do you know about them and why they’re seeking election? Better yet, how will you find out?
We’d recommend asking them. All 18 of them. And the best way to compare apples to apples would be to ask them all the same questions and pay close attention to their answers. Maybe write down their answers for later reference.
… Or you could read the Star Herald.
It’s our job to profile candidates for election.
And when it comes to local races like a school board, a community newspaper is the only place voters can comparison-shop for their future leaders.
 
Photos and profiles featured in Sept. 22 Star Herald, online ‘candidate forum’ soon to follow
We start next week with profiles and photographs of the candidates for a “face to the name” sort of introduction.
And soon after, we’ll start the process of video-recording brief interviews of the candidates who will respond to questions as they would during a live debate or forum.
The Star Herald has been asked to host a debate, but with 18 candidates it would take nearly two hours to get through brief introductions, so it logistically wouldn’t be practical.
Thankfully, modern technology allows our candidates to express themselves and answer tough questions as they would in a moderated forum, only it will be in front of an iPhone camera and microphone in an empty room.
Yes, it will lack the energy of a competitive and robust debate, but we’re hoping the recordings — which will be available on our website until Election Day — will offer a glimpse of personality, competency and the spirit that drove these individuals to seek election.
We think these candidates represent a great cross-section of the Luverne School District, and we applaud them for their willingness to lead.
The job of an elected official is often thankless and difficult work, and we’re lucky so many are motivated to take it on.
The job for voters is to decide who is best suited for those responsibilities, and the responsible voters will do their homework.
Our job at the Star Herald is to showcase the candidates — their motives, their skills, their desires for the district — in a way that’s fair, accurate and informative.
It won’t be perfect, and the people elected won’t be perfect, but we pledge to do our best … as we’re sure the winning candidates will.