Although Minnesota , a Democratic-leaning state , had voted for the Democratic presidential candidate of every election since 1972 , the margin of victory had been narrow in the past two presidential elections . With this in mind , Republicans targeted the state for the 2008 election , holding the 2008 Republican National Convention in Minneapolis-St . Paul . Although the state swung more Democratic in 2008 and Barack Obama performed better here than John Kerry did in 2004 , the swing was smaller than the national average
2008 Republican National Convention
2008 Republican National Convention
2008 United States presidential election in Minnesota