House candidate Azzopardi pounds the pavement in search of votes

As Shirley Azzopardi, Democratic candidate for House District 93, continues her quest to meet Lake County voters face to face, she’s armed with a pen and clipboard, flyers, a stack of campaign signs, and a hammer to pound them in place.

Her mantra since registering for the race last March has been “knock on every door.” While she’s apt to fall far short of the district’s 6,300 registered voters, she’s closing in on 1,000 doors and, she says, having fun in the process.

What transforms the chore that most candidates and party loyalists deplore into a pleasure?

“Listening to people’s perspectives,” she says. “People just want to be heard.”

“Sometimes the craziness makes it fun,” she adds, laughing. “Like people coming to the door with a gun in their hand.”

Largely though, constituents are “very nice to me. I hardly ever get doors slammed in my face.”

A more common risk than gun-toting voters is ferocious dogs. “Most are pretty friendly,” she says. “I can’t wear shorts because they jump on me a lot.” Still, she always approaches carefully, and if a canine seems aggressive, she moves on.

It’s unusual for a legislative candidate to make so many house calls, especially since she’s not using party voting information as her guide. Instead, she targets a neighborhood or community in the 457-square-mile district, which stretches from Arlee nearly to Polson, and shows up at the doors of Democrats, Republicans and Independents alike. If she encounters someone who isn’t registered to vote, she hands them a card or signs them up on the spot, and says she’s registered about a dozen so far.

She’s out and about five nights a week from 5-7 p.m., always with a volunteer driver.

Although more densely populated areas are a practical priority, she hits rural areas too. “I’ve bounced down some long, long driveways,” she says.

During last week’s visit to the west side of Ronan, she knocked on the back door of a house with a barking German shepherd tied to the front, skirted a smelly billy goat, and kept her eye on a hornet nest tucked in the eaves of a porch. Along the way, she intercepted an earful of concerns, from roads and education to government spending and lack of affordable housing.

Devan and Will Parks tell her that many of their friends pay more in rent than the Parks pay for their mortgage. The young couple also advocates for more spending on apprenticeship and trades programs for high school students.

“A lot of kids are being left behind,” says Devan.

Azzopardi, who taught special education for 30 years, agrees. “We’re putting round pegs in square holes,” she says. “It’s hard for kids who don’t fit in.”

Shannon Burke, who suffers from asthma, is frustrated with the unpaved city street that runs in front of her house. “We’re like a third-world country here,” she says, pointing to the potholes and dirt surface of 7th Avenue SW.

“You’re not the only one who talks about this,” responds Azzopardi. “Roads are a big deal.”

Wasteful government spending is a priority for Donnita Snyder, who describes herself as a fiscal conservative and social liberal. “I don’t care if it’s city, county or state, it seems like there’s a whole lot of waste and very little oversight,” she says. “I worked hard for my money and I don’t mind paying taxes, at all. I just don’t want to see it wasted.”

While she doesn’t support President Biden’s plan to forgive a portion of student debt, she believes higher education needs to be more affordable. “Education is huge, and not everyone can get a scholarship for football.”

Chris Morigeau was decked out in orange and black and ready to root for his favorite football team, the Cincinnati Bengals. A former lawyer who now teaches high school in Ronan, he voiced his opposition to legislation proposed in 2021 by Azzopardi’s opponent, Joe Read, that would have allowed non-tribal members to hunt deer on their own land.

“Just because you own the land doesn’t mean you own the resource that goes on the land,” he says. “That’s still the Tribes’.”

A young woman, Kaylie Durglo, recognizes Azzopardi from the years she taught in St. Ignatius.

“People don’t really do that anymore,” she observes of the candidate’s door-knocking discipline.

“This is a very Republican district,” replies Azzopardi. “I can’t win on only Democratic votes. I have to talk to every single person.”