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Nose for News by Sarah Stultz

With the caucuses Tuesday across the state, Minnesota’s election season is now officially underway. 

With that, things will undoubtedly pick up in the world of journalism as candidates will be announcing their plans for office and parties will organize forums — not to mention there will surely be more letters to the editor. 

There will be city races in Wards 2, 4 and 6, as well as the mayor seat; all five commissioner seats at the county level; and four school board seats up for vote. 

It’s a big year also as both our state representative and Senate seats will be up for vote, as will the 1st District congressional seat and the statewide seats of governor, attorney general and secretary of state.

While election season can be an exciting time to be a journalist — you get to meet candidates you might not have otherwise — it can also be my least favorite time as there also seems to be an uptick during recent elections in incivility between people of opposing viewpoints. 

I always like focusing on what can be done to bring people together instead of separating them further, and I hope candidates this year will focus on the good they could do instead of dwelling on the bad of their opponents. 

I also hope people will take the initiative to get involved during the voting process and to take advantage of opportunities to learn more about the candidates and the issues at stake. 

In this election season, I hope all candidates and voters will remember to practice civility. 

Even though many of the key issues at hand are crucial, civility is key to being able to work across the aisle and, in the end, make progress. 

Sarah Stultz is the managing editor of the Tribune. Her column appears every Wednesday.