MINNEAPOLIS—Minnesota is, ordinarily, a heavily Democratic Party state. No Republican currently holds state office, and the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party controls both houses of the state Legislature.
It has provided a pipeline for national politics of progressive champions, such as former Vice President Walter Mondale, Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), and state Attorney General Keith Ellison. And recently, Vice President Kamala Harris picked Gov. Tim Walz (D-Minn.)—who has a long record of progressive legislative achievements—as her running mate for the 2024 presidential election.
Yet, Minnesota’s politics may be changing.
In 2016, former President Donald Trump lost the state by just 1.5 percent—a significant improvement over past GOP nominees—though that margin increased in 2020. To shore up his support, Trump held a rally with his running mate, Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio), in St. Cloud on July 27….