Title: The coming Republican state of Minnesota? | MinnPost
Headings: The coming Republican state of Minnesota?
The coming Republican state of Minnesota?
Signs of a shift
DFL base seems to be eroding
Center of the national action
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Content: the last time it voted Republican was for Nixon in 1972. Tim Pawlenty in 2006 was the last Republican to win a statewide election in Minnesota. Signs of a shift
Yet there are many signs that the state is turning Republican. Since 1999, the Minnesota House of Representatives has been controlled by Republicans 14 out of 20 years. Since 2010 party control of the Minnesota Senate has flipped three times. Since 1999 a Democrat has controlled the governorship only eight years out of 20. When Democrat Mark Dayton won the governorship in 2010 he was the first of his party to win that office in Minnesota since 1986. In 2016 Hillary Clinton beat Donald Trump by 45,000 votes – the closest presidential race in the state since 1984 favorite son Mondale barely eked out a victory over Ronald Reagan. That year Minnesota was the only state in country to vote Democratic. Clinton’s close victory should not have been a surprise – exit polls put Minnesota at 37 percent to 35 percent in terms of Democratic/Republican affiliation, similar to the 36 percent to 33 percent split nationally.