What's with Minnesota and it's two flipped Republican districts? nt

[LAS14]

[Wellstone ruled]

1. These two districts have been

weak spots for the Rethugs for several years. Should have flipped years ago,lack of funds and a aggressive ground game slowed the effort.

[LAS14]

2. I mean flipping FOR the Republicans. Not sure what...

... you mean by "weak spots?"

[Wellstone ruled]

10. That Range Seat

is a study in backward thinking of People,Two things,Iron Ore mining Ain't coming back. The Taconite is not price competitive on the Foreign Market. That market belongs to a Aussie Company until their Pit runs dry. Higher Ferrous content and know one can match the price per long ton.

Secondly,some of these folks are holding out for a return of the OSB plants to open. It is all about raw materials and cost to produce. Marketable Timber there is not,and Potlach is not about to run money losing operations.

These folks are just running on scared,much like the Coal Miners.

[WhiskeyGrinder]

11. Mining did not drive voting patterns in this race.

Radinovich won Duluth almost 2-to-1, and won the Range, except for 5B, which is oddly drawn and trends R. The bigger issue is the southern half of the district, particularly Chisago and Isanti, which were added to reduce the Range's political power.

[Wellstone ruled]

16. Totally forgot

about the Istanti County nightmare. Just assumed that was moved to Sixth. Wow,understand,use to live in Anoka County on the North boundry with Isanti,remember the Fundies and Ignoramuses up the road. And all the Militia Puss Gut wannabes.

Stand Corrected,thanks for the info.

[WhiskeyGrinder]

17. No problem! A lot of people want to paint the 8th as disaffected miners voting for Trump -- and

don't get me wrong, there is plenty of that. But the unions are still very strong on the Range and in Duluth, and the IR just doesn't have the population it used to to wag the 8th. It's much more Duluth+IR vs. Chisago/Isanti and other rural areas.

It's a complicated district that doesn't lend itself to easy answers right now, when it used to be very reliable.

[Wellstone ruled]

18. Remember when the Rethugs jacked the crap out

of the Sixth in order to kill off the Strong DFL base we enjoyed for decades. Two Mega Hate filled Churches and Michele Bachnman were made to order after that.

[WhiskeyGrinder]

4. Duluth voted almost 2-to-1 for the DFL candidate.

The issue is that the 8th was redrawn in a way that it added some strong red population centers that "balance" and are quickly outweighing Duluth and the Iron Range.

[David__77]

6. That's good to know about Duluth.

Thank you. I hope that that can be reversed somehow.

[WhiskeyGrinder]

7. Duluth has also had quite the renaissance over the past 10 years, similar to other areas that

weathered the manufacturing downturn, and has built a reputation as a place to go for young families who work in health care, tech and education. Craft beer, lots of outdoor activities, progressive politics, an increasingly vibrant food community, etc.

[David__77]

13. Thanks so much.

I deleted my original post because I don't think it's accurate.

My father came from Duluth, and I only went there once when I was 11 or 12. I enjoyed bicycling on some trails. The hills outside town were nice too. My father was a Republican and talked about how Democratic and pro-union it was in Duluth. I hope it retains that legacy in the years to come.

[WhiskeyGrinder]

15. Oh you didn't have to delete it! A lot of people still have that impression of Duluth.

It's a very Democratic and pro-union town. It's under attack, of course -- just like it is everywhere -- but there's no place like it.

[WhiskeyGrinder]

5. The 8th, long a DFL anchor, was redrawn in the last redistricting to add some red population

centers, making it much more of a swing district (which tend to favor Republicans). In addition, more than $7 million of outside money was spent on attack ads against the DFLer. It's a bunch of small things that gave the Republican the edge.

[Arger68]

8. I live in district 1

And it's a very red district as a rule. Tim Walz won it in the 2006 blue wave but he decided to run for governor and won. The farmers in this district are all about Trump and many will go broke due to the tariffs but they don't seem to care.

District 8 is in the iron range, and mining tops all up there. They are trying to open a copper mine close to the beautiful boundary waters and Republicans are more than happy to destroy the environment to make a buck.

[WhiskeyGrinder]

9. I'm in the 8th. Mining did not drive voting patterns in this race.

[grantcart]

12. What did?

[WhiskeyGrinder]

14. Dark money, a changed district profile that people are still trying to come to terms with

eight years later (it's now a swing district, and swing districts tend to favor Republicans), a strong dedication to uniting behind the DFLer, and cypher running as a Republican.