Why is Minnesota different? (Minneapolis, St. Paul: 2013, colleges, live)

[Mouldy Old Schmo]

It's been said that the large number of Scandanavian immigrants made Minnesota into the liberal state it is today. But a lot of them also immigrated to the Dakotas and those states are much more conservative. What is the difference?

[Mr. In-Between]

Population density of the Twin Cities probably plays a part. Urban areas are generally more liberal than rural areas, and the Twin Cities is an uncommonly liberal city. The labor unions were very strong in Northern Minnesota's Iron Range in the early 2oth Century, and that influence still lives on in some of the larger northern counties. I don't think either of the Dakotas ever had a large industry that lent itself to that sort of union activity.

Those are the first two things that come immediately to mind for me.

[Minnesota Spring]

Minnesota, and the Twin Cities in particular, put a lot of emphasis on education and in general the population ranks high in educational attainment. That is one big reason that I can think of.

[Unsettomati]

Originally Posted by Mouldy Old Schmo

It's been said that the large number of Scandanavian immigrants made Minnesota into the liberal state it is today. But a lot of them also immigrated to the Dakotas and those states are much more conservative. What is the difference?

There's the problem - the thesis that 'Minnesota is liberal in 2013 because many of its early immigrants were Scandinavians' is a woefully inadequate explanation.

First of all, 'a lot of' Scandinavians immigrated to 'a lot of places'. That doesn't mean the same breakdown of Norwegians, Swedes, Danes, Finns, etc., from the same social classes immigrated in the same numbers at the same time to those places.

Second, Minnesota has developed very differently than the Dakotas in the interim. Its history of development, of industrialization, and of urbanization are very different (this all speaks to my point that trying to explain any place today exclusively by what happened over a century ago is flawed; different places have followed different courses in those intervening years).

[my54ford]

Originally Posted by Minnesota Spring

Minnesota, and the Twin Cities in particular, put a lot of emphasis on education and in general the population ranks high in educational attainment. That is one big reason that I can think of.

Freely translated:
We can't help that those outstate redneck woodsrunners are so ingnorent

[Mouldy Old Schmo]

I wonder if Farmer Jensen is cool with same-sex marriage.

[Ghengis]

Originally Posted by Mouldy Old Schmo

I wonder if Farmer Jensen is cool with same-sex marriage.

odds are he's opposed but you don't have to tell him your inclinations and unlike Mississippi he probably wouldn't ask.

[Glenfield]

Originally Posted by Albert_The_Crocodile

Population density of the Twin Cities probably plays a part. Urban areas are generally more liberal than rural areas, and the Twin Cities is an uncommonly liberal city. The labor unions were very strong in Northern Minnesota's Iron Range in the early 2oth Century, and that influence still lives on in some of the larger northern counties. I don't think either of the Dakotas ever had a large industry that lent itself to that sort of union activity.

Those are the first two things that come immediately to mind for me.

This is it. Away from the cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul, and the Iron Range, the rest of the state is pretty conservative, and overall it's split almost 50/50. We also have a fairly active third party at the state level, and the Independence Party tend to draw more votes away from Republican candidates than the DFLers. Advantage: DFL.

[iNviNciBL3]

Different from what?

[Glenfield]

Originally Posted by Mouldy Old Schmo

I wonder if Farmer Jensen is cool with same-sex marriage.

This is where the liberal/ conservative split in MN was most evident. The amendment to ban same sex marriage was widely supported outstate but opposed by two thirds of the voters in Hennepin (Minneapolis) and Ramsey (St. Paul) counties, so it was defeated. That's history now and I by no means hope to resurrect that topic, but the link below gives results on the two amendment proposals by county. The outstate counties voting no are basically where colleges are located. It's just an interested way to see the split we have here.

Minnesota Ballot Measures Results 2012 - Map, County Results, Live Updates - POLITICO.com