In Minnesota, judicial contests are not usually the most exciting thing on the November ballot.

Only nine races for judgeships out of 103 across the state have more than one candidate registered to run, and in many of those contests, the incumbent is in a strong position to win. Candidates are usually nonpartisan, and so far Minnesota has avoided the kind of expensive judicial elections that have cropped up in neighboring states like Wisconsin.

When voters turn over their ballot this fall, they’ll be asked to pick a candidate in two contested races to serve on the Minnesota Supreme Court, as well as a judge to serve on the state’s Court of Appeals and district court judges serving in counties across central and northern Minnesota.

Here’s what you need to know about the candidates:

Minnesota Supreme Court Chief Justice Natalie Hudson is up for election after she was appointed as the court’s first Black chief justice last fall. She served as an associate justice on the Supreme Court since 2015 and previously served 13 years on the state’s Court of Appeals. Before becoming a judge, she practiced criminal law in the Attorney General’s Office, worked as the St. Paul city attorney, worked in private practice and got her start at Southern Minnesota Regional Legal Services working on housing issues. Hudson earned her law degree from the University of Minnesota. Hudson is running for re-election because she “has the experience, temperament, and intellect to work collaboratively with her colleagues on the Minnesota Supreme Court,” according to her campaign.

Her opponent, Stephen Emery, got his law degree from the University of North Dakota and has legal experience in agriculture and medicine. He “has been invested in doing legal analysis and writing” for the last 25 years, according to his campaign. Emery has sought other state offices in Minnesota, including a run for the U.S. Senate in a Democratic primary. His current campaign website touts him as “conservative representation” for the state. Emery won a race for Yellow Medicine county attorney in 2022, but he resigned before he assumed office.

Supreme Court Associate Justice Karl Procaccini was also appointed to the high court last fall. He got his law degree at Harvard University and worked for six years at Minneapolis firm Greene Espel,representing individuals, nonprofits and businesses. Procaccini joined DFL Gov. Tim Walz’s office as general counsel and served during the COVID-19 pandemic and taught at the University of St. Thomas and Mitchell Hamline law schools. Procaccini said he’s running to see the court through a transition period with three new members and preserve its “tradition of excellence and fairness.”

His opponent is Matthew Hanson, a Prior Lake attorney who has worked in trusts, estates and commercial litigation, including formerly with Securian in St. Paul. Hanson, who said he’s a fifth-generation Minnesotan, earned his law degree from Mitchell Hamline School of Law in 2018. Hanson was the lone challenger to any judge in 2022 and said he’s running again because the courts are “elected by the people to ensure justice is administered fairly and impartially.”

Bissett, who played youth and high school hockey at the MAC, oversaw the addition of Torrey Arena in 1997 and was part of the city planning team that first began looking at further MAC expansion 13 years ago.

“I’ve seen all of the things we’ve done and I’ve got a lot of plans, some still stuck to my office wall, of things we didn’t do,” said Bissett, who plans to retire at the end of next year. “I’d like for this one to be done when I leave. At least that would keep the MAC maintainable for the size of our community.”

Two local men died last week as a result of crashes while riding their motorcycles, the State Patrol said.

Ross Anthony Stensrud, 61, of Rochester was killed Thursday evening when his motorcycle went off the highway south of St. Charles, Minn. According to the State Patrol, Stensrud was northbound on Hwy. 74 near Park Road when the accident happened shortly after 6 p.m.

The road was dry but alcohol was said to have been involved. Stensrud was not wearing a helmet.

Kaeden Devon Price, 19, of Minneapolis, died Tuesday of multiple blunt force injuries after crashing into a pickup truck on Interstate 35W on the afternoon of Sept. 24. The State Patrol said Price, who was wearing a helmet, was speeding on his motorcycle when he sideswiped one vehicle and rear-ended the pickup.

The accident happened near E. 36th Street in Minneapolis. No one else was hurt in the crash.