Friday, November 7, 2014

Jacob Wheeler — How Did Minnesota Stay Blue in the Midterms? By Embracing, Not Running From, Progressive Values

…Minnesota bucked the rightward trend. In the upper Midwestern state known for progressive politics, Scandinavian sensibility and high voter turnout, Al Franken easily held onto his U.S. Senate seat (winning 53 percent of the vote), Governor Mark Dayton convincingly won reelection (by 5.5 percent), and the Democratic-Farm-Labor Party (DFL) held onto five of its eight Congressional seats.…
Republicans did regain control of the State House by ousting 11 DFL incumbents, mostly in rural Minnesota: they now have a four-seat majority (Democrats control the State Senate, which was not up for reelection this year). But the GOP failed to win seats in all but one of the first-ring suburbs of the Twin Cities, despite several tight races. In typical midterm election years, House seats in the suburbs of Eagan, Edina, Shoreview and Minnetonka would typically swing red. This year, they all remained blue. 
The DFL’s successful defense of the suburbs around Minneapolis and St. Paul, and convincing victories for Dayton and Franken, could offer valuable lessons for progressives nationwide as they lick their wounds and try to develop an effective political strategy for 2016. 
How did Minnesota Democrats do it? By focusing on women’s issues, fair pay and raising the minimum wage, and by championing—not running away from—progressive accomplishments such as workers’ rights and President Obama’s Affordable Care Act.
In These Times
How Did Minnesota Stay Blue in the Midterms? By Embracing, Not Running From, Progressive Values
Jacob Wheeler

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