I moved to Minnesota in late 1997, and at least since then, Republicans have asked this question in every election cycle. And in every election cycle, the answer has been a resounding no. However, last year’s unexpectedly close results in Minnesota’s presidential vote has Barry Casselman wondering at the Weekly Standard if 2018 might be the Year of the Republican in the Land of 10,000 Lakes:
Does Minnesota still deserve its national reputation as dependably “blue”? Probably not. Though next year is expected to be a good one for Democrats nationally, this might turn out to be the only state where Republicans could flip the congressional lineup from blue to red. …
When Donald Trump stopped off in Minnesota the Sunday before the election, it raised eyebrows. No Republican had won the state since Richard Nixon in 1972. But two days later, the outcome was in doubt until late in the night. Hillary Clinton’s 1.5 point margin over Trump was the narrowest victory for her party there since Walter Mondale barely won his home state over Ronald Reagan in 1984.
What had happened to this hyper-blue state? This is a state that was reliably liberal for decades after the Democratic-Farmer-Labor party, the DFL, was created in 1944. A succession of DFLers were sent to Washington, reaching a high point with Hubert Humphrey and Walter Mondale, both of whom became vice president and then their party’s nominee for president. But the GOP won a statewide upset in 1978, electing two U.S. senators and the governor. And ever since, control of state offices has passed back and forth between the DFL and the GOP.
Read more at:
http://hotair.com/archives/2017/08/08/eternal-question-minnesota-ready-turn-red/
