Will Minnesota's long-blue Iron Range turn red in November?
Kathy Merkel grew up in a family of staunch Democrats, raised by a mother who she says only voted straight blue. But Merkel, who lives in the northern Minnesota mining town of Virginia, said she is voting for Republicans because she believes they better represent the interests of the Iron Range.
So is Lisa Westby, who lives just 10 miles north of Virginia in the town of Britt. Westby, who was also raised in a DFL family, said political tides on the Range have turned against Democrats amid the party’s embrace of environmental concerns about mining.
DFL lawmakers “are killing mining,” Westby said at a recent candidate meet-and-greet event in Virginia. “People up here want to have jobs so they have a roof over their head and can put food on the table.”
Their views reflect the political transformation of Minnesota’s Iron Range. The blue-collar region supported pro-labor Democrats for decades until environmental concerns about mining and the urban-rural cultural divide pushed it to the right. Minnesota Republicans are hopeful the region’s rightward shift will help them win every state House seat on the Range this year and end the DFL’s trifecta control of state government.
The last House Democratic holdout on the Range is District 7B, which includes mining towns such as Virginia, Eveleth and Aurora and stretches south near the order of the Fond Du Lac reservation. Democrats have narrowly held onto the district even as Republican former President Donald Trump won it in 2020. But the unexpected retirement of incumbent DFL Rep. Dave Lislegard earlier this year left the House seat wide open.
https://www.startribune.com/will-minnesotas-long-blue-iron-range-turn-red-in-november/601167333
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