If you’ve seen blue signs that say “Jude” across Hennepin County, it’s not something that area Jews have anything to be concerned about.
Tad Jude is a Republican who is one of the seven candidates running in the Aug. 9 primary for the non-partisan Hennepin County Attorney race. The top two candidates will advance to the Nov. 8 General Election. The signs – a simple blue sign with white writing – were leftover from a previous campaign, he said.
“Assuming I survive the primary on August 9, I will put stickers on that says ‘for Hennepin County Attorney,’” Jude said. “I am a friend of the Jewish community. I will always be a friend of the Jewish community. I obviously have many supporters who are Jewish and I appreciate their help and support.”
He did potentially add to the confusion by titling a campaign video about crime in the city ‘Never Again.’” Jude is the German word for Jew, which was on the yellow Star of David and sewn onto the clothes of Jews in Nazi-occupied Europe.
Jude is a former five-term member of the Minnesota House of Representatives and had two terms in the state senate. Most recently, he has served as a judge in the state’s Tenth Judicial District.
“I understand the sensitivity because of antisemitic activity, and I certainly intend no offense,” said Jude, who acknowledged that there’s only so much room to put information on a yard sign. “I’ve traditionally done that as a way of name identification. Part of it is for impact, and be part of it is you want to have people asking about it.
“But I don’t have my first name on there, or the office I’m running for, so I can see where it could lead to some confusion too.”
Also on the ballot in the primary are Paul Ostrow, Mary Moriarty, Saraswati Singh, Martha Holton Dimick, Jarvis Jones, and Ryan Winkler.
BS