View source for Politics of Minnesota

{{Short description|Politics of the U.S. state of Minnesota}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=October 2011}}
{{Politics of Minnesota}}

[[Minnesota]] is known for a politically active citizenry.<ref name="i801">{{cite web | last=Bosman | first=Julie | title=Minnesota, Known for Bipartisan Civility, Reels After Attack on Lawmakers | website=The New York Times | date=2025-06-15 | url=https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/14/us/politics/minnesota-politics-lawmakers-shooting.html?smid=url-share | access-date=2025-06-15}}</ref> Minnesota has consistently high voter turnout, ranking highest or near-highest in recent elections.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Ingraham |first=Christopher |date=November 9, 2022 |title=Minnesota voter turnout shaping up to be highest in nation yet again |url=https://minnesotareformer.com/briefs/minnesota-voter-turnout-shaping-up-to-to-be-highest-in-nation-yet-again/ |access-date=2024-08-17 |website=[[Minnesota Reformer]] |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Derosier |first=Alex |date=November 16, 2022 |title=Minnesota outperforms US voter turnout again; No. 1 state still to be decided |url=https://www.duluthnewstribune.com/news/minnesota/minnesota-outperforms-us-voter-turnout-again-no-1-state-still-to-be-decided |access-date=2024-08-17 |website=[[Duluth News Tribune]] |language=en}}</ref> This is due in part to its same-day [[voter registration]] laws; previously unregistered voters can register on [[Election Day (United States)|election day]] with evidence of residency.<ref>[[Steven F. Huefner|Huefner, Steven F.]], Daniel P. Tokaji, and Edward B. Foley (2007), [http://moritzlaw.osu.edu/electionlaw/joyce/book.pdf ''From Registration to Recounts: The Election Ecosystems of Five Midwestern States''] ({{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090325110831/http://moritzlaw.osu.edu/electionlaw/joyce/book.pdf |date=March 25, 2009 }}), The Ohio State University Moritz College of Law, p. [http://moritzlaw.osu.edu/electionlaw/joyce/chapter7_137-159.pdf 137] ({{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090325110841/http://moritzlaw.osu.edu/electionlaw/joyce/chapter7_137-159.pdf |date=March 25, 2009 }}). {{ISBN|978-0-9801400-0-2}}.</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Most |first=Becca |date=2022-08-23 |title=Why does Minnesota have the best voting record in the U.S.? |url=https://www.sctimes.com/in-depth/news/2022/08/23/minnesota-voting-access-number-1-in-voter-turnout-in-u-s-heres-why/65392204007/ |access-date=2024-08-17 |website=[[St. Cloud Times]] |language=en-us}}</ref>

The major political parties are the [[Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party]] (DFL) and the [[Republican Party of Minnesota]], along with the state-recognized minor parties: [[Grassroots–Legalize Cannabis Party|Grassroots–Legalize Cannabis]], [[Legal Marijuana Now]], and the [[Libertarian Party of Minnesota]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=June 21, 2024 |title=Political parties |url=https://www.sos.state.mn.us/elections-voting/how-elections-work/political-parties/ |access-date=2024-08-17 |website=[[Minnesota Secretary of State]]}}</ref> The DFL was founded in 1944 when the Minnesota Democratic Party and [[Minnesota Farmer–Labor Party]] merged. The party is affiliated with the national [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic Party]]. Supporters of the DFL are often referred to as "DFLers" in Minnesota as an alternative to "Democrats". The state Republican Party is affiliated with the national [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican Party]].

==History==
{{PresHead|place=Minnesota|source=<ref>{{cite web |url=https://uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS/compare.php?year=2008&fips=27&f=1&off=0&elect=0&type=state |title=Presidential General Election Results Comparison – Minnesota |publisher=US Election Atlas |access-date=October 27, 2022 |author=Leip, David}}</ref>}}
{{PresRow|2024|Democratic|1,519,032|1,656,979|77,909|Minnesota}}
{{PresRow|2020|Democratic|1,484,065|1,717,077|76,029|Minnesota}}
{{PresRow|2016|Democratic|1,323,232|1,367,825|254,176|Minnesota}}
{{PresRow|2012|Democratic|1,320,225|1,546,167|70,169|Minnesota}}
{{PresRow|2008|Democratic|1,275,409|1,573,354|61,606|Minnesota}}
{{PresRow|2004|Democratic|1,346,695|1,445,014|36,678|Minnesota}}
{{PresRow|2000|Democratic|1,109,659|1,168,266|160,760|Minnesota}}
{{PresRow|1996|Democratic|766,476|1,120,438|305,726|Minnesota}}
{{PresRow|1992|Democratic|747,841|1,020,997|579,110|Minnesota}}
{{PresRow|1988|Democratic|962,337|1,109,471|24,982|Minnesota}}
{{PresRow|1984|Democratic|1,032,603|1,036,364|15,482|Minnesota}}
{{PresRow|1980|Democratic|873,241|954,174|224,538|Minnesota}}
{{PresRow|1976|Democratic|819,395|1,070,440|60,096|Minnesota}}
{{PresRow|1972|Republican|898,269|802,346|41,037|Minnesota}}
{{PresRow|1968|Democratic|658,643|857,738|72,129|Minnesota}}
{{PresRow|1964|Democratic|559,624|991,117|3,721|Minnesota}}
{{PresRow|1960|Democratic|757,915|779,933|4,039|Minnesota}}
{{PresRow|1956|Republican|719,302|617,525|3,178|Minnesota}}
{{PresRow|1952|Republican|763,211|608,458|7,814|Minnesota}}
{{PresRow|1948|Democratic|483,617|692,966|35,643|Minnesota}}
{{PresRow|1944|Democratic|527,416|589,864|8,249|Minnesota}}
{{PresRow|1940|Democratic|596,274|644,196|10,718|Minnesota}}
{{PresRow|1936|Democratic|350,461|698,811|80,703|Minnesota}}
{{PresRow|1932|Democratic|363,959|600,806|38,078|Minnesota}}
{{PresRow|1928|Republican|560,977|396,451|13,548|Minnesota}}
{{PresRow|1924|Republican|420,759|55,913|345,474|Minnesota}}
{{PresRow|1920|Republican|519,421|142,994|73,423|Minnesota}}
{{PresRow|1916|Republican|179,544|179,152|28,668|Minnesota}}
{{PresRow|1912|Progressive|64,334|106,426|163,459|Minnesota}}
{{PresRow|1908|Republican|195,843|109,401|26,060|Minnesota}}
{{PresRow|1904|Republican|216,651|55,187|21,022|Minnesota}}
{{PresRow|1900|Republican|190,461|112,901|12,949|Minnesota}}
{{PresRow|1896|Republican|193,503|139,735|8,524|Minnesota}}
{{PresRow|1892|Republican|122,823|100,920|43,495|Minnesota}}
{{PresRow|1888|Republican|142,492|104,385|16,408|Minnesota}}
{{PresRow|1884|Republican|111,685|70,065|8,267|Minnesota}}
{{PresRow|1880|Republican|93,902|53,315|3,553|Minnesota}}
{{PresRow|1876|Republican|72,955|48,587|2,533|Minnesota}}
{{PresRow|1872|Republican|55,708|35,211|0|Minnesota}}
{{PresRow|1868|Republican|43,722|28,096|0|Minnesota}}
{{PresRow|1864|Republican|25,055|17,367|0|Minnesota}}
{{PresFoot|1860|Republican|22,069|11,920|748|Minnesota}}
[[File:United States presidential election in Minnesota, 2016.svg|thumb|right|255px|[[Treemap]] of the popular vote by county, 2016 presidential election.]]

Historically, the state was a Republican stronghold, never voting Democratic from statehood until 1932, however, since then it has voted Democratic all but thrice- 1952, 1956, and 1972. 1952 is also the last time the state voted for a non-incumbent Republican, and only once (2016) has the state voted to the right of the nation since. Minnesotans have voted for Democratic presidential candidates ever since 1976, more times consecutively than any other state outside of the South, and longer than any other ongoing streak. Minnesota and the [[District of Columbia]] were the only electoral votes not won by incumbent Republican President [[Ronald Reagan]] in [[1984 United States presidential election|1984]]. Minnesota voters instead chose former vice president and Senator [[Walter Mondale]], a Minnesota native. Mondale or [[Hubert Humphrey]] were on the Democratic ticket as candidates for president or Vice President in the [[1964 United States presidential election|1964]], [[1968 United States presidential election|1968]], [[1976 United States presidential election|1976]], [[1980 United States presidential election|1980]], and [[1984 United States presidential election|1984]] elections.{{citation needed|date=June 2024}}

Historically, Republicans have come close to winning Minnesota—Ronald Reagan lost by a small margin in 1984, and Donald Trump was defeated by 44,593 votes in 2016. Trump's near-win has motivated the GOP to invest heavily in the state, matching resources allocated to other key Midwestern battlegrounds like Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin.

In the early 2000s, presidential campaigns have viewed the 27 [[United States Electoral College|electoral college]] votes from Minnesota, [[Wisconsin]], and [[Iowa]] as a bloc that is subject to swing toward either major party, and equal in value to Florida's 27 electoral votes.<ref>{{cite web |last=Moore |first=Rick |title=2004 Elections Project – The latest trends in Wisconsin and Iowa |work=UMN News |publisher=Regents of the University of Minnesota |date=October 26, 2004 |url=http://www1.umn.edu/umnnews/Feature_Stories/2004_Elections_Project_The_latest_trends_in_Wisconsin_and_Iowa.html |access-date=November 19, 2006 |archive-date=May 26, 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060526182203/http://www1.umn.edu/umnnews/Feature_Stories/2004_Elections_Project_The_latest_trends_in_Wisconsin_and_Iowa.html |url-status=live}}</ref> This analysis resulted in dozens of visits by candidates in the final months of both the [[2000 United States presidential election|2000]] and [[2004 United States presidential election|2004]] campaigns.<ref>{{cite web |last=King |first=David C. |author2=David Morehouse |title=Moving Voters in the 2000 Presidential Campaign: Local Visits, Local Media |work=Lights, Camera, Campaign, edited by David Schultz, New York: Peter Lang Publishing, 2004 |publisher=Harvard University, Institute of Politics |url=http://www.iop.harvard.edu/pdfs/king_morehouse_2004.pdf| access-date =November 19, 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061019214458/http://www.iop.harvard.edu/pdfs/king_morehouse_2004.pdf <!-- Bot retrieved archive --> |archive-date=October 19, 2006}}</ref>
However, in the [[2008 United States presidential election]], Barack Obama won the state by more than 10 percentage points.{{citation needed|date=June 2024}}

Minnesota's congressional delegation is split with 4 Democratic and 4 Republican members of Congress and mostly has been split since the early 1990s. (See [[United States congressional delegations from Minnesota]].)

In the 2006 mid-term election, Democrats were elected to all state offices except for governor and lieutenant governor, where Republicans [[Tim Pawlenty]] and [[Carol Molnau]] narrowly won reelection. The DFL also posted double-digit gains in both houses of the legislature, elected DFLer [[Amy Klobuchar]] to the U.S. Senate, and increased the Democratic U.S. House caucus by one, [[Tim Walz]] ([[Minnesota's 1st congressional district|MN-01]]).{{citation needed|date=June 2024}}

However, in the 2010 mid-terms, [[Minnesota's 8th congressional district|the 8th district]], a Democratic stronghold for decades in the [[Iron Range]], elected Republican [[Chip Cravaack]] over long-time incumbent [[Jim Oberstar]], splitting the delegation again, 4 to 4. Republicans also captured both houses of the [[Minnesota Legislature]] for the first time in decades. However, Democratic candidate [[Mark Dayton]] won control of the governorship, making all of Minnesota's statewide elected officials Democrats. In the 2012 election, Democrat [[Rick Nolan]] recaptured Oberstar's seat, bringing the ratio to 5 Democrats and 3 Republicans again at the national level. They also captured majorities in both chambers of the Minnesota Legislature.{{citation needed|date=June 2024}}

In 2016, [[Donald Trump]] was defeated by just 44,593 votes in 2016. Trump's near-win has motivated the GOP to invest heavily in the state, matching resources allocated to other key Midwestern battlegrounds like Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin.

During the [[2018 United States elections|2018 mid-term elections]] the Republican party recovered both [[Minnesota's 8th congressional district|the 8th district]] and [[Minnesota's 1st congressional district|the 1st district]], as the former representative of the first district, [[Tim Walz]] (D) ran for and was elected governor. The [[Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party]] flipped two [[Minneapolis–Saint Paul|Twin Cities]] suburban districts, [[Minnesota's 2nd congressional district|the 2nd]] and [[Minnesota's 3rd congressional district|the 3rd district]] with candidates [[Angie Craig]] and [[Dean Phillips]], which maintained the ratio of 5 Democrats and 3 Republicans representing Minnesota at the national level.{{citation needed|date=June 2024}} The 2018 mid-term election also saw the election of [[Ilhan Omar]] as representative of [[Minnesota's 5th congressional district]]. She gained national recognition for her involvement with [[The Squad (United States Congress)|The Squad]], a progressive group of four newly-elected representatives including New York Representative [[Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez]].

=== State legislature ===
From 1915 to 1973, elections to the Minnesota Legislature were nonpartisan, though members organized into a Conservative Caucus and a Liberal Caucus. Most Republicans joined the Conservatives and most [[Minnesota Farmer–Labor Party|Farmer Laborites]] joined the Liberals, while the Democrats were more split. The Farmer Labor Party was successful statewide in the 1930s but only controlled the Minnesota House of Representatives twice.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Caucus Chart - Minnesota Legislature |url=https://www.lrl.mn.gov/history/caucus_table |access-date=2023-09-05 |website=www.lrl.mn.gov}}</ref> The DFL had more success by the 1950s but was hampered by malapportionment in the legislative maps.{{citation needed|date=June 2024}}

=== Redistricting ===
Redistricting has often been very contentious in Minnesota. For 1913, the legislature passed a legislative map which was litigated the following year, for reasons including malapportionment. The Minnesota Supreme Court upheld the map, following many other states in a pre-''[[Reynolds v. Sims]]'' era.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal |last=Stangl |first=Alexis |last2=Gehring |first2=Matt |date=November 2018 |title=History of Minnesota Legislative Redistricting |url=https://www.gis.lcc.mn.gov/html/history_of_legislative_redistricting.pdf |journal=Minnesota Legislative Coordinating Commission |access-date=September 5, 2023 |archive-date=August 17, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240817121105/https://www.gis.lcc.mn.gov/html/history_of_legislative_redistricting.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> The legislature also passed a congressional map for the state's new tenth district. Like many agriculture-based states, Minnesota lost a congressional seat after the [[1930 United States census|1930 census]]. The then-Conservative controlled legislature passed a map which Governor [[Floyd B. Olson|Floyd Olson]] then vetoed. The [[Minnesota House of Representatives|House of Representatives]] attempted to overrule and force the state Secretary of State to implement the map. He was sued, and the case made its way through the state courts before going to the United States Supreme Court. In ''[[Smiley v. Holm]],'' the Court overturned the State Supreme Court and struck down the map, leading congressional seats in the [[1932 United States House of Representatives elections|1932 House elections]] to be elected held at-large. The next year, a new congressional map was passed and implemented, staying in place until 1961.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Stangl |first=Alexis |last2=Gehring |first2=Matt |date=November 2018 |title=History of Minnesota Congressional Redistricting |url=https://www.gis.lcc.mn.gov/html/history_of_congressional_redistricting.pdf |journal=Minnesota Legislative Coordinating Commission |access-date=September 5, 2023 |archive-date=September 5, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230905043505/https://www.gis.lcc.mn.gov/html/history_of_congressional_redistricting.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref>

In 1958, a group of voters sued to overturn the still in place 1913 legislative maps, arguing the maps were grossly malapportioned. In ''Magraw v. Donovan'', the courts agreed, but allowed the legislature time to redraw the maps. In 1959, the legislature passed a map which made minor changes, notably preserving the districts in Southeastern, Central, and Northeastern Minnesota. It increased the number of legislative districts in Hennepin and Ramsey County from 14 to 19 (two members were elected to each legislative district in Minneapolis while in Ramsey County two house districts were nested within each legislative district). Voters again sued to overturn the legislative maps in 1964 under the principle of [[one man, one vote]] and again the court deferred to the legislature to redraw the maps. The legislature and Governor [[Karl Rolvaag]] fought over new maps, before one was signed into law in 1966.<ref name=":0" />

In 1971, the legislature passed a new map during a special session, but Governor [[Wendell R. Anderson]] vetoed the map over its use of multimember districts in Minneapolis, Duluth, and the Iron Range to achieve an odd number of House and Senate seats, a longtime practice by the legislature. Voters also had sued to overturn the 1966 maps, and the federal district court intervened, drawing a map with 35 Senate districts and 105 House districts. In ''Minnesota State Senate v. Beens,'' the Supreme Court overturned the district court. The district court returned with a new plan, which brought the state legislature down to its current 67 senators and 134 representatives.<ref name=":0" />

==Regional differences==
In 2020, ''[[The Washington Post]]'' released an article that categorized the state into five regions based on political attitudes: [[Minneapolis]] and [[Saint Paul, Minnesota|Saint Paul]], the suburban regions of those two cities, the [[Iron Range]], a section of southeastern Minnesota, and the remaining parts of the state (dubbed "Greater Minnesota").<ref>{{cite web |last=Weigel |first=David |last2=Tierney |first2=Lauren |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2020/politics/minnesota-political-geography/ |title=The five political states of Minnesota |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=2020-09-13 |access-date=2023-05-28 |archive-date=June 10, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220610075117/https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2020/politics/minnesota-political-geography/ |url-status=live}}</ref>

Greater Minnesota is a largely rural area that saw a significant swing toward Republicans in 2016, with Trump carrying every county. While Democrats hoped to win back voters in [[2020 United States presidential election|2020]] and [[2024 United States presidential election|2024]] by highlighting the negative impact of Trump's trade policies on agriculture, Republicans made further gains by, among others, promoting the benefits of the [[United States–Mexico–Canada Agreement|USMCA]] trade agreement.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2021-07-22 |title=Minnesota Republican Delegation Sends Letter to Protect Minnesota's Dairy Farmers |url=https://emmer.house.gov/2021/7/minnesota-republican-delegation-sends-letter-to-protect-minnesota-s-dairy-farmers |access-date=2024-11-18 |website=Congressman Tom Emmer |language=en}}</ref> 

==Third-party movements==
The progressive [[Minnesota Farmer–Labor Party]], formed in 1920, provided three governors, four United States senators, and eight members of the U.S. House of Representatives from the 1920s until its merger with the Democratic Party in 1944.

The moderate [[Reform Party of the United States|Reform Party]] was able to elect the former mayor of [[Brooklyn Park, Minnesota|Brooklyn Park]], and former [[professional wrestler]], [[Jesse Ventura]] to the governorship in [[Minnesota gubernatorial election, 1998|1998]]. The Minnesota branch of the Reform party split off from the national party due to unhappiness about [[Pat Buchanan|Pat Buchanan's]] influence in the party, and was renamed the [[Independence Party of Minnesota|Independence Party]].<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=PD&s_site=twincities&p_multi=SP&p_theme=realcities&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=0EB73982168C3FAA&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D |title=Reform Party votes to leave national group |publisher=Saint Paul Pioneer Press |date=March 5, 2000 |access-date=May 26, 2010 |archive-date=March 3, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303171048/http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=PD&s_site=twincities&p_multi=SP&p_theme=realcities&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=0EB73982168C3FAA&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D |url-status=live}}</ref> The Independence Party had been able to sustain sufficient support to maintain major party status until 2014.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.sos.state.mn.us/index.aspx?page=237 |publisher=Minnesota Secretary of State |access-date=2010-05-26 |title=Minnesota's Major & Minor Political Parties |archive-date=February 8, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150208100245/http://www.sos.state.mn.us/index.aspx?page=237 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

The state's [[Green Party of Minnesota|Green Party]] has elected several city council members and other local office-holders in [[Duluth, Minnesota|Duluth]], Minneapolis and [[Winona, Minnesota|Winona]], and has made strong runs for state legislature during the past two election cycles. In 2000, Green Party candidate [[Ralph Nader]] received just over 5% of the presidential votes cast, gaining Major Party status for the party.<ref>{{cite news |title=Minnesota Still Democrat, no longer safe bet |date=November 8, 2000 |publisher=Saint Paul Pioneer Press}}</ref> The Green Party lost that status in 2004, but retains minor party status having exceeded a 2% threshold.<ref>{{cite news |work=Star Tribune |url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-124500838.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121104034356/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-124500838.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=November 4, 2012 |date=November 9, 2004 |author=Conrad DeFiebre |title=Greens, IP ponder their options after lackluster showing at polls.}}</ref>

In the 2006 election, voters in Minneapolis approved a referendum (by a decisive 65% to 35%) to utilize the [[single transferable vote]] (STV)—commonly referred to as "instant-runoff voting" and "ranked choice voting"—in future city elections, which is expected to be a boon for [[third party (U.S. politics)|third parties]].<ref>{{cite web |last=Cobb |first=David |title=It's clear: Eureka is sharply divided |work=Times-Standard |date=November 9, 2006 |url=http://www.times-standard.com/opinion/ci_4629666 |access-date=December 28, 2006 |archive-date=February 6, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120206000903/http://www.times-standard.com/opinion/ci_4629666 |url-status=dead}}</ref> The drive for IRV began in the 1990s as part of the Green Party's platform, although all political parties except the Republicans supported it in the Minneapolis referendum.

==Government==
{{Main|Government of Minnesota}}

==Federal representation==
===U.S. Senate===
Minnesota's two [[United States Senate|U.S. senators]] are elected at large:

* [[Senior senator|Senior]] U.S. Senator [[Amy Klobuchar]] (DFL)
* [[Junior senator|Junior]] U.S. Senator [[Tina Smith]] (DFL)
<gallery class="center">
File:Amy_Klobuchar, official portrait, 113th Congress (cropped).jpg|[[Amy Klobuchar]]
File:Tina Smith, official portrait, 116th congress.jpg|[[Tina Smith]]
</gallery>

===U.S. House of Representatives===
[[File:MN 2022 congressional districts.jpg|right|thumb|Map of [[Minnesota's congressional districts]].]]
Minnesota has eight [[congressional districts]]. There were 9th and 10th districts but they were eliminated in 1963 and 1933 respectively. Since the early 1960s, the state's congressional districts have been drawn by a judicial panel due to the legislature's failure to enact a redistricting plan after every decennial census.

[[United States House of Representatives|U.S. House of Representatives]]:

* [[Minnesota's 1st congressional district]] extends across southern [[Minnesota]] from the border with [[South Dakota]] to the border of [[Wisconsin]] – [[United States Representative|Rep.]] '''[[Brad Finstad]]''' (Republican).
* [[Minnesota's 2nd congressional district]] spans the width of the entire southern metro area and contains all of [[Scott County, Minnesota|Scott]], [[Le Sueur County, Minnesota|Le Sueur]], [[Goodhue County, Minnesota|Goodhue]] and [[Rice County, Minnesota|Rice]] Counties – Rep. '''[[Angie Craig]]''' (DFL).
* [[Minnesota's 3rd congressional district]] encompasses the suburbs of [[Hennepin County, Minnesota|Hennepin County]] to the north, west, and south of Minneapolis – Rep. '''[[Kelly Morrison]]''' (DFL).
* [[Minnesota's 4th congressional district]] covers most of [[Ramsey County, Minnesota|Ramsey County]] including all of [[St. Paul, Minnesota|St. Paul]] and several St. Paul suburbs – Rep. '''[[Betty McCollum]]''' (DFL).
* [[Minnesota's 5th congressional district]] covers eastern [[Hennepin County]], including the entire city of [[Minneapolis]], Minnesota, along with parts of [[Anoka County, Minnesota|Anoka]] and [[Ramsey County, Minnesota|Ramsey]] counties – Rep. '''[[Ilhan Omar]]''' (DFL).
* [[Minnesota's 6th congressional district]] includes most or all of [[Benton County, Minnesota|Benton]], [[Sherburne County, Minnesota|Sherburne]], [[Stearns County, Minnesota|Stearns]], [[Wright County, Minnesota|Wright]], [[Anoka County, Minnesota|Anoka]], and [[Washington County, Minnesota|Washington]] counties – Rep. '''[[Tom Emmer]]''' (Republican).
* [[Minnesota's 7th congressional district]] covers almost all of the western side of [[Minnesota]] from the [[Canada–United States border|Canada–US border]] down to [[Lincoln County, Minnesota|Lincoln County]] and is the largest district in the state – Rep. '''[[Michelle Fischbach]]''' (Republican).
* [[Minnesota's 8th congressional district]] covers the northeastern part of [[Minnesota]] and includes [[Duluth, Minnesota|Duluth]], [[Hibbing, Minnesota|Hibbing]], and the [[Mesabi Range]] – Rep. '''[[Pete Stauber]]''' (Republican).

<gallery class="center">
File:Brad Finstad 117th Congress.jpeg|[[Brad Finstad]], [[Minnesota's 1st congressional district|MN-01]]
File:Angie Craig, official portrait, 116th Congress (cropped).jpg|[[Angie Craig]], [[Minnesota's 2nd congressional district|MN-02]]
File:Morrison Kelly 119th Congress (cropped).jpg|[[Kelly Morrison]], [[Minnesota's 3rd congressional district|MN-03]]
File:Betty McCollum, official portrait, 116th Congress (cropped).jpg|[[Betty McCollum]], [[Minnesota's 4th congressional district|MN-04]]
File:Ilhan Omar, official portrait, 116th Congress (cropped).jpg|[[Ilhan Omar]], [[Minnesota's 5th congressional district|MN-05]]
File:Tom Emmer official portrait 114th Congress (cropped).jpg|[[Tom Emmer]], [[Minnesota's 6th congressional district|MN-06]]
File:2020-11-18-LH-Studio1- Fischbach-Michelle-0029-re-SELECT (cropped).jpg|[[Michelle Fischbach]], [[Minnesota's 7th congressional district|MN-07]]
File:Pete Stauber 118th Congress (cropped).jpeg|[[Pete Stauber]], [[Minnesota's 8th congressional district|MN-08]]
</gallery>

{| class="wikitable"
! colspan="11"|District political leanings – [[118th United States Congress]]
|-
|District||1st||2nd||3rd||4th||5th||6th||7th||8th||State
|-
|[[Cook Partisan Voting Index|CPVI]]<ref>{{Cite web |title=2022 Cook PVI: District Map and List |url=https://www.cookpolitical.com/cook-pvi/2022-partisan-voting-index/district-map-and-list |access-date=2023-01-07 |website=Cook Political Report |language=en |archive-date=December 27, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221227115112/https://www.cookpolitical.com/cook-pvi/2022-partisan-voting-index/district-map-and-list |url-status=live}}</ref>
|{{Party shading/Republican}}|'''R+7'''
|{{Party shading/Democratic}}|'''D+1'''
|{{Party shading/Democratic}}|'''D+8'''
|{{Party shading/Democratic}}|'''D+17'''
|{{Party shading/Democratic}}|'''D+30'''
|{{Party shading/Republican}}|'''R+12'''
|{{Party shading/Republican}}|'''R+19'''
|{{Party shading/Republican}}|'''R+8'''
|{{Party shading/Democratic}}|'''D+1'''
|}

==Historical figures==
===John Pillsbury===
[[File:JohnSargentPillsbury.jpg|[[John S. Pillsbury]]|thumb|left|100px]]
[[John S. Pillsbury]] (July 29, 1828 – October 18, 1901) served as the 8th [[Governor of Minnesota]] from January 7, 1876, to January 10, 1882. Pillsbury was a noted philanthropist and often anonymously donated funds to causes he favored. In particular, he helped the [[University of Minnesota]] recover from debt in its early years, and later served as a [[Board of regents|regent]]. Since then, he has become known as "The Father of the University". Pillsbury Hall at the University of Minnesota is named in his honor. He tried his hand at several different types of businesses, including hardware, real estate and lumber, though his greatest success came when he founded [[Pillsbury Company|C.A. Pillsbury and Company]] along with his family (it is named for his nephew, [[Charles Alfred Pillsbury]]).

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===Frank Kellogg===
[[File:FrankKellogg.jpg|[[Frank B. Kellogg]]|thumb|left|100px]]
[[Frank B. Kellogg]] (December 22, 1856 – December 21, 1937) was elected as a [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]] to the [[United States Senate]] from Minnesota in 1916 and served from March 4, 1917, to March 3, 1923. He was a delegate to the Fifth [[International Conference of American States]] at [[Santiago, Chile]] in 1923, and served as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the United Kingdom from 1923 to 1925. He was [[United States Secretary of State]] in the Cabinet of [[President of the United States|President]] [[Calvin Coolidge]] 1925–1929. In 1928, he was awarded the [[Freedom of the City]] in Dublin, Ireland and in 1929 the government of France made him a member of the [[Legion of Honor]]. As Secretary of State, he coauthored the [[Kellogg-Briand Pact]], signed in 1928. Proposed by its other namesake, French foreign minister [[Aristide Briand]], the treaty intended to provide for "the renunciation of war as an instrument of national policy". He was awarded the 1929 [[Nobel Peace Prize]] in recognition. He was associate judge of the [[Permanent Court of International Justice]] from 1930 to 1935.

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===Floyd B. Olson===
[[File:MNFloydOlson.jpg|thumb|right|Tribute to Floyd B. Olson at the [[Minnesota State Capitol]]|100px]]
[[Floyd B. Olson]] (November 13, 1891 – August 22, 1936) served as the 22nd [[Governor of Minnesota]] from January 6, 1931, to August 22, 1936. He was a member of the [[Minnesota Farmer–Labor Party]], and was the first member of the Farmer–Labor Party to win the office of governor in Minnesota. The party, founded in 1918 had a good deal of success in Minnesota as a statewide third party, with three governors and four U.S. senators serving during the 1920s and 1930s. The party platform called for protection for farmers and labor union members, government ownership of some industries, and social security laws. There were unsuccessful attempts to develop the party into a national Farmer–Labor Party in the early 1920s.<ref>{{cite web |last=Davenport |first=Tim |title=The Farmer–Labor Party (1918–1924) |work=Early American Marxism |publisher=marxisthistory.org |url=http://marxisthistory.org/subject/usa/eam/farmerlaborparty.html |access-date=December 4, 2006 |archive-date=June 4, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180604082434/http://marxisthistory.org/subject/usa/eam/farmerlaborparty.html |url-status=live}}</ref> The Minnesota Democratic Party, led by Hubert H. Humphrey, was able to merge with the Minnesota Farmer–Labor Party in 1944. Since 1944 the two parties together make up the Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party.

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===Harold Stassen===
[[File:HaroldStassenOfficialOil.jpg|[[Harold Stassen]]|thumb|left|100px]]
[[Harold E. Stassen]] (April 13, 1907 – March 4, 2001) was the 25th [[Governor of Minnesota]] from 1939 to 1943 and a later [[perennial candidate]] for other offices, most notably and frequently President of the United States. At 31 he was the youngest governor to serve in Minnesota and was seen as an "up and comer" after delivering the [[keynote]] address at the 1940 Republican National Convention. At that convention, he helped secure the [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican Party]] nomination for [[Wendell Willkie]]. Stassen was a delegate at the San Francisco [[United Nations Conference on International Organization|Conference]] that established the United Nations, and president of the [[University of Pennsylvania]] from 1948 to 1953.

Stassen was later best known for being a perennial candidate for the Republican Party nomination for president. His strongest bid for the presidential nomination was in 1948, when he won a series of upset victories in early [[Partisan primary|primaries]]. Polls showed that he would beat [[Harry S. Truman]] if nominated. He lost the nomination to [[Thomas Dewey]], however, who had already lost in the presidential election of 1944 to [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]]. Stassen played a key role in the 1952 Republican contest when he released his delegates to [[Dwight D. Eisenhower]]. This helped Eisenhower to defeat [[Robert A. Taft]] on the first ballot. He served in the Eisenhower Administration, filling posts including director of the Mutual Security Administration (foreign aid) and Special Assistant to the President for Disarmament. During this period he held cabinet rank and led a [[Quixotism|quixotic]] effort to "dump [[Richard Nixon|Nixon]]" at the [[1956 Republican National Convention]]. Stassen gained a reputation as a [[American liberalism|liberal]], particularly when, as president of the [[American Baptist Convention]] in 1963, he joined [[Martin Luther King Jr.]] in his march on Washington, D.C. He was a prime representative of the socially-progressive "[[Rockefeller Republican]]" wing of American Republicanism.

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===Hubert Humphrey===
[[File:Hubert Humphrey crop.jpg|[[Hubert Humphrey]]|thumb|left|100px]]
[[Hubert Humphrey]] (May 27, 1911 – January 13, 1978) was the 38th Vice President of the United States, serving under President [[Lyndon Johnson]]. Humphrey twice served as a [[United States Senate|United States Senator]] from Minnesota, and served as Democratic [[Majority Whip]]. He was a founder of the [[Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party]] and [[Americans for Democratic Action]]. He served as mayor of [[Minneapolis]] from July 2, 1945, to November 30, 1948. In 1968 Humphrey was the nominee of the [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic Party]] in the [[U.S. presidential election, 1968|United States presidential election]] but lost to Republican [[Richard Nixon]]. In one of the most renowned speeches in American political history, Humphrey told the [[1948 Democratic National Convention]]: "the time has arrived in America for the Democratic Party to get out of the shadows of states' rights and walk forthrightly into the bright sunshine of human rights," winning support for a pro-civil-rights plank in the Party's platform.

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===Eugene McCarthy===
[[File:EugeneMcCarthy.jpg|[[Eugene McCarthy]]|thumb|left|100px]]
[[Eugene McCarthy]] (March 29, 1916 – December 10, 2005) was a longtime member of the [[Congress of the United States|U.S. Congress]]. He served in the [[United States House of Representatives|U.S. House of Representatives]] from 1949 to 1959 and the [[United States Senate|U.S. Senate]] from 1959 to 1971. His anti-war stance and popularity prior to the [[1968 Democratic National Convention]] likely convinced [[Lyndon Johnson]] to drop out of the [[1968 United States presidential election|race]]. In the [[U.S. presidential election, 1968|1968 presidential election]], McCarthy unsuccessfully sought the [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]] nomination for President of the United States to succeed incumbent Lyndon Johnson on an anti-[[Vietnam War]] platform. He would unsuccessfully seek the presidency five times altogether. (He is not to be confused with Senator [[Joseph McCarthy|Joseph Raymond McCarthy]] who sought out Communist spies within the federal government.)

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=== Orville Freeman ===
[[File:Orville L. Freeman, Secretary of Agriculture (1961-1969).jpg|[[Orville Freeman]]|thumb|left|100px]]
[[Orville Freeman]] (May 9, 1918 – February 20, 2003) was a co-founder and chairman of the [[Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party]] and a three-term [[Governor of Minnesota]], the first from the DFL. Freeman served as [[United States Secretary of Agriculture]] under presidents Kennedy and Johnson. He recognized that needy people were starving just as grain surpluses had driven prices down. Freeman advocated farm exports and supported controls on production sometimes idling farm land for years. Freeman worked toward the pilot school breakfast program and is most often remembered for today's U.S. [[Food Stamp Program]].<ref>{{cite web |author=Olson, Dan |title=Remembering Orville Freeman |publisher=Minnesota Public Radio |url=http://news.minnesota.publicradio.org/features/2003/02/21_olsond_freemanobit/ |date=February 21, 2003 |access-date=March 13, 2007 |archive-date=December 7, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181207221145/http://news.minnesota.publicradio.org/features/2003/02/21_olsond_freemanobit/ |url-status=live }} and {{cite web |author=Stout, David |title=Orville Freeman, 84, Dies; 60's Agriculture Secretary |work=The New York Times |date=February 22, 2003 |url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=940CE6D7133DF931A15751C0A9659C8B63 |access-date=April 11, 2008 }}</ref>

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===Walter Mondale===
[[File:Mondale as Senator.jpg|[[Walter Mondale]]|thumb|left|100px]]
[[Walter Mondale]] (January 5, 1928 – April 19, 2021) was the 42nd vice president of the United States (1977–1981) under President [[Jimmy Carter]]. He was also a two-term [[United States Senate|United States Senator]] from Minnesota and the [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic Party]] nominee for [[U.S. presidential election, 1984|president in 1984]] against the incumbent, [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]] [[Ronald Reagan]]. Mondale suffered a crushing defeat as Reagan was re-elected in a [[landslide victory]] in which Mondale carried only his home state of Minnesota and the [[District of Columbia]]. Mondale also quickly stepped into the 2002 U.S. Senate race against [[Norm Coleman]], when Paul Wellstone died in a plane crash two weeks before the election. Coleman narrowly won the election, 49.5% to 47.3%.

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===Paul Wellstone===
[[File:Paul Wellstone, official Senate photo portrait.jpg|[[Paul Wellstone]]|thumb|left|100px]]
[[Paul Wellstone]] (July 21, 1944 – October 25, 2002) was a two-term [[U.S. Senator]] from Minnesota. He was a member of the [[Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party|Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party]] and was a professor of [[political science]] at [[Carleton College]] before being elected to the Senate in 1990. Wellstone was in a line of left-of-center or [[progressivism|progressive]] senators of the DFL. The first three, Hubert H. Humphrey, Eugene McCarthy, and Walter F. Mondale, were all prominent in the national Democratic Party and Wellstone became a leading spokesman for the progressive wing in his time. He served in the Senate from 1991 until his death in a plane crash on October 25, 2002. His wife, [[Sheila Wellstone|Sheila]], and daughter, Marcia, also died in the crash. They had two other grown children, David and Mark, who now co-chair the [[Wellstone Action]] nonprofit group.

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===Jesse Ventura===
[[File:Esse Ventura 2000.jpg|[[Jesse Ventura]]|thumb|left|100px]]
{{main|Jesse Ventura#Political career}}
	
[[Jesse Ventura]] (born July 15, 1951) was elected the 38th [[Governor of Minnesota]] in the [[Minnesota gubernatorial election, 1998|Minnesota gubernatorial election of 1998]] and served from January 4, 1999, to January 6, 2003, without seeking a second term. Ventura ran as a candidate for the [[Reform Party of Minnesota]] (but joined the [[Independence Party of Minnesota]] when it broke from its association with the [[Reform Party of the United States of America]]) and narrowly, but unexpectedly beat the major-party candidates: [[Saint Paul, Minnesota|Saint Paul]] mayor [[Norm Coleman]] ([[Republican Party of Minnesota|Republican]]) and [[Minnesota]] Attorney General [[Skip Humphrey|Hubert H. "Skip" Humphrey III]] ([[Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party|Democratic–Farmer–Labor]]). His campaign consisted of a combination of aggressive grassroots events and original television spots, designed by quirky advertising man [[Bill Hillsman]], using the phrase "Don't vote for politics as usual." He spent considerably less than his opponents (about $600,000), and is widely regarded as one of the first candidates to effectively use the Internet as a medium of reaching out to voters in a political campaign.<ref>{{cite journal |author=deFiebre, Conrad |title=Record-high job approval for Ventura; Many Minnesotans like his style, don't mind moonlighting |journal=[[Star Tribune]] |date=July 22, 1999}}</ref> Ventura went on to gain the highest approval rating of any governor in Minnesota history, with some polls ranking his public approval as high as the 73% in 1999, despite controversial statements of his.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Daves |first1=Robert P. |title=Jesse "The Governor" Ventura Continuing to "Shock the World" |url=https://ropercenter.cornell.edu/sites/default/files/2018-07/105002.pdf |website=Roper Center, Cornell University |publisher=Public Perspectives |access-date=January 26, 2024 |date=August–September 1999 |archive-date=January 26, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240126213700/https://ropercenter.cornell.edu/sites/default/files/2018-07/105002.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref>

==See also==
{{Portal|United States}}
*[[Political party strength in Minnesota]]
*[[List of political parties in Minnesota]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==

{{USCongDistStateMN}}
{{Government of Minnesota}}
{{Politics in the United States}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Politics Of Minnesota}}
[[Category:Politics of Minnesota| ]]