Michigan's 53rd state House district has been around for more than 40 years, and a Republican has represented it for seven - the first seven. It's no mystery why: The district is most of the city of Ann Arbor, along with some 300 voters in bordering townships. We all know that Ann Arbor residents are, by nature, terrified of candidates with an "R" by their name. How else do you explain that, among the entirely Democratic City Council, two sitting members switched parties after originally running as a Republicans?

Given that the Green Party stands a better chance of victory in the fightin' 53rd than the Republicans, it's unsurprising that the House race has gone the way of City Council. Every two years, there's a hotly contested Democratic primary in August, followed by an anticlimactic race between the winner and one or two brave souls from the more peripheral parties - the Green Party, the U.S. Taxpayers, a Natural Law candidate or maybe even a Republican. This year, the race for the 53rd district actually boasts a real, live socialist candidate. (Not your run-of-the-mill, universal-health-care socialist; I mean a start-the-people's-revolution socialist.) The House race isn't exactly Ann Arbor City Council, however, and voters also get to play in the traditional party rivalry, with Republican Erik Sheagren taking on Democrat Rebakah Warren.

I'm no political analyst, but I have little hesitation in calling this one for Warren - and I'm pretty sure Sheagren would do the same. In fact, he has, telling The Ann Arbor News his chances of victory are "slim." Warren's party affiliation lines up with a healthy majority of Ann Arbor voters, and she's got him beat in experience, campaign tactics and fundraising. (Warren has blasted through more than $80,000 this election cycle, mostly to defeat Leigh Greden this summer. Sheagren filed a waiver, anticipating he would raise less than $1,000.)

As a candidate, Sheagren isn't particularly good at public speaking, and he seemed frightened at the idea of actually winning. He admits he doesn't have the answers to a lot of voters' questions. But he is sincere and has a platform that won't be represented in Matt Erard's or Warren's campaigns - straight-up fiscal and social conservatism.

Sheagren may not be an ideal politician, but he is a good citizen. Ann Arbor residents aren't just grown-up versions of the stereotypical liberal University student. (Well, not all of them.) There really are Republicans out there - enough to have given Sheagren 20 percent of the vote against then-incumbent Chris Kolb in the 2004 election. But without a Republican candidate, it's a choice between a Democrat (the horror!) and Erard's proposals for a 100-percent capital flight tax and a $15 minimum wage - which are mere transitional demands to encourage the rise of the proletariat, of course.

The landscaper from Ann Arbor isn't running to win; he's running to give voters a choice. If that's not fulfilling your civic duty, I don't know what is.

I disagree with Sheagren on just about everything. He's very much a Republican; I'm not. I think cutting state taxes further would be disastrous; he thinks we're still on the part of the Laffer curve where state revenues will go up if we just slash taxes. If Michigan had more politicians like Sheagren, our government would be kinder and more honest, though the state would probably go bankrupt.

But despite our differences of opinion, I respect Sheagren. Ann Arbor is fortunate to have a number of residents who devote hours each week to make their community better, and Sheagren may not have the time to top the list of these super-Ann Arborites. But there's also something admirable, though perhaps rarely acknowledged, in running for elected office purely for the sake of making our democracy a little more democratic.

A recent poll by Pew Charitable Trusts found that 58 percent of young Americans are civically disengaged, meaning that out of the 19 ways the pollsters considered as participation in political and community life, nearly three-fifths couldn't name two things they did. More than a quarter couldn't name any. It wasn't just voting and writing angry letters that counted - anything from volunteering to wearing a button to being a member of a group was considered engagement.

Reading these rather abysmal statistics, I felt pretty smug about being registered as an Ann Arbor voter - my voter registration card is certainly a sign that I am an exemplary citizen. But after sitting down with Sheagren last week, I realized that if we show up to vote on Tuesday, yes, the poll workers will likely hand us nice "I voted" stickers - but showing up is really the least we can do.

Emily Beam is a Daily editorial page editor. She can be reached at beam@michigandaily.com.