2026 Candidates

Steve Young & Jane Kirby

Candidates for Governor & Lt. Governor

Steve Young is an attorney with 9 years of experience in corporate law who currently serves as a member of the Minneapolis Food Council. Before law school, he served in the US Marine Corps for 12 years as an infantry unit leader. He coached high school lacrosse for 7 years and has volunteered with the Boy Scouts of America, church congregations, and Veterans For Peace. He owned and operated a small business, the Bryn Mawr Market, and has been very active in the community response to Operation Metro Surge. In addition to strong protections for the natural environment, support for single-payer healthcare, and a guaranteed basic income, he supports boycott, divestment, and sanctions against Israel, and an end to federal immigration operations in the state.

Jane Kirby, a mother of five who now lives in the Macalester-Groveland neighborhood of St. Paul, grew up in Eagan, went to Burnsville High School, and holds a master's degree in elementary education. She has worked for 35 years and operated a business as a midwife.

~~~

Seth Kuhl-Stennes

Candidate for Secretary of State

Seth Kuhl-Stennes was born and raised in northern MN and earned a degree in Political Science from St. John’s University. He has worked in cooperatives, for-profit businesses, and nonprofits, including seven years of union workplace involvement at Eastside Food Co-op with United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local 663, where he was an active member on the first contract union bargaining team before being selected as a shop steward and serving on the Labor Management Committee. He is currently a member of The Office of Professional Employees International Union (OPEIU) Local 12 through his employment with the Land Stewardship Project (LSP), where he has worked since May 2024, and he also serves on the Labor Management Committee.

You can learn more about Seth and his campaign here: https://www.seth4mnsos.org/ 

~~~

Ngone Niang

Candidate for State Senate District 39

Ngone Niang is a political scientist and community organizer whose professional and community-based work has focused on food access, youth programming, and community support systems. She is married and has two sons. Her campaign is grounded in the Green Party values of grassroots democracy, decentralization, and social justice, and her core goals are supporting working families, strengthening community-based solutions, and ensuring every voice in District 39 is represented

You can learn more about Ngone and her campaign here: https://niangforsenate.nationbuilder.com/