Some Minnesota towns curb political parade takeovers

AFTON, Minn. (AP) — Politicians and parades go hand in hand come election year, but some Washington County communities are cracking down to protect citizens from getting too bored.

This year, the Afton City Council limited political candidates to 10 marchers each in its Fourth of July parade. Deputy city clerk Kim Swanson Linner tells the St. Paul Pioneer Press that the 2010 parade had too many political floats followed by huge throngs of volunteers and says it “wasn’t entertaining for the crowd.”

In Forest Lake’s popular Independence Day parade, each politician gets 20 marchers. “It’s boring, otherwise,” says a parade planner. The city of Oakdale set its limit at 15.

State Senate candidate Karin Housley accepts blame for Afton’s limit after mobilizing 85 marchers in 2010. She says she’ll follow the new rules.