District 12 race over before it starts?

Six years ago, District 12 had probably the hottest city council race of the year, with a four-way primary spanning the ideological spectrum. Current Ald. Satya Rhodes-Conway won a close 52-48 victory, marking a turning point in the declining fortunes of Northside conservatives. With Rhodes-Conway stepping down, will voters get a repeat of that bellwether contest?

Not bloody likely.

The only declared candidate is District 15 alder Larry Palm, whose Carpenter-Ridgeway neighborhood was shifted into District 12 along with the rest of Eken Park. He's done a good job of clearing the decks and lining up endorsements, enough to scare off potential challengers on his end of the ideological spectrum. Palm's overall record is firmly within the Madison council's progressive majority, with most of his focus and attention in the Eastmorland and Atwood areas. His first lit piece transposes some fairly standard boilerplate -- Larry likes clean water and libraries! -- onto the district, but Palm's specific plans or ideas for the Northside remain a mystery.

Meanwhile, Dorothy Borchardt's old supporters seem to have given up on her former seat. I can't say I'm surprised, since Dane County conservatives have proved time and again they'd rather lose extreme than build a competitive coalition. But it's too bad that city politics have become so ideologically monotonous and focused upon which developers want to do what downtown.

There's still a week before nomination papers are due, but with so little chatter about the race before the holidays I'd be shocked to see another candidate emerge. Despite the overall uptick in interest for this spring's elections -- all three school board seats contested! five people who will never live up to Brenda Konkel's expectations for her district! -- it seems like we on Ruskin Street will have to sit the city races out.