My father, who was appointed a Rock County circuit court judge last January, just found out that he’s going to have an easy time with his first actual campaign for the elected seat: He’s running unopposed.

This is the kind of election that families of candidates root for. Very low stress.

I actually considered running for the school board here in Beloit this year. A number of people asked me to, and I do hope to someday be able to serve my hometown in some direct fashion. However, the kids are still just a bit too young and the demands on my time too stringent for me to be more than a warm body in any such position—and that just wouldn’t do.

I’m not always good at saying no to things that interest me. I sometimes overbook my time that way, but most of my projects only run for stints of a few months. A seat on the school board comes with a three-year term, and I don’t think I could sustain a super-crunch time for that long without serious repercussions.

Still, it would have been cool to run for a seat at the same time as my father. The yard signs alone would have been worth it.