Minnesota is known for a politically active citizenry. Minnesota has consistently high voter turnout, ranking highest or near-highest in recent elections. This is due in part to its same-day voter registration laws; previously unregistered voters can register on election day with evidence of residency.Huefner, Steven F., Daniel P. Tokaji, and Edward B. Foley (2007), From Registration to Recounts: The Election Ecosystems of Five Midwestern States (), The Ohio State University Moritz College of Law, p. 137 (). .
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, Legal Marijuana Now, and the Libertarian Party of Minnesota. 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. 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.
History
Historically, the state was a Republican stronghold, never voting Democratic from statehood until 1932, however, since then it has voted Democratic all but three presidential election cycles: 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. 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, 1968, 1976, 1980, and 1984 elections.
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 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. This analysis resulted in dozens of visits by candidates in the final months of both the 2000 and 2004 campaigns. However, in the 2008 United States presidential election, Barack Obama won the state by more than 10 percentage points.
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 Minnesota's congressional delegations).
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 (MN-01).
However, in the 2010 mid-terms, 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.
In 2016, Donald Trump was defeated by just 44,593 votes. 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 mid-term elections the Republican party recovered both the 8th district and 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 Twin Cities suburban districts, the 2nd and 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. 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, 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 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. The DFL had more success by the 1950s but was hampered by malapportionment in the legislative maps.
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. 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 census. The then-Conservative controlled legislature passed a map which Governor Floyd Olson then vetoed. The 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 House elections to be elected held at-large. The next year, a new congressional map was passed and implemented, staying in place until 1961.
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.
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.
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, 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").
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 and 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 USMCA trade agreement.
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 its founding in 1918 until its merger with the Democratic Party in 1944.
The centrist Reform Party was able to elect the former mayor of Brooklyn Park, and former professional wrestler, Jesse Ventura to the governorship in 1998. The Minnesota branch of the Reform party split off from the national party due to unhappiness about Pat Buchanan's influence in the party, and was renamed the Independence Party. The Independence Party had been able to sustain sufficient support to maintain major party status until 2014.
The state's Green Party has elected several city council members and other local office-holders in Duluth, Minneapolis and 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. The Green Party lost that status in 2004, but retains minor party status having exceeded a 2% threshold.
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 parties. 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
Federal representation U.S. Senate Minnesota's two U.S. senators are elected at large:
Senior U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar (DFL) Junior U.S. Senator Tina Smith (DFL)
U.S. House of Representatives
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.
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 – Rep. Brad Finstad (Republican). Minnesota's 2nd congressional district spans the width of the entire southern metro area and contains all of Scott, Le Sueur, Goodhue and Rice Counties – Rep. Angie Craig (DFL). Minnesota's 3rd congressional district encompasses the suburbs of Hennepin County to the north, west, and south of Minneapolis – Rep. Kelly Morrison (DFL). Minnesota's 4th congressional district covers most of Ramsey County including all of St. Paul and several St. Paul suburbs – Rep. Betty McCollum (DFL).