How Min­neso­ta became a blue ‘haven’ in a red Upper Mid­west

Minnesota’s often­times pro­gres­sive pol­i­tics and blue-lean­ing nature dif­fer from that of the rest of the Upper Mid­west. 
Neigh­bor­ing Wis­con­sin is one of sev­er­al key bat­tle­ground states, which could sway the elec­tion, and Nebras­ka and both Dako­tas remain red. Iowa was once a swing state, but has moved to the right in recent years. Yet, Min­neso­ta has remained to be a tru­ly Demo­c­ra­t­ic state.
Accord­ing to Uni­ver­si­ty of Wis­con­sin-Madi­son pro­fes­sor Mike Wag­n­er, who grew up in Min­neso­ta and has lived in many mid­west­ern states, Min­neso­ta has a unique com­bi­na­tion of being more urban, more racial­ly diverse, hav­ing more job oppor­tu­ni­ties, and a his­to­ry of pro­gres­sivism that posi­tions the state dif­fer­ent than the rest of the upper Mid­west. 
“From a com­mu­ni­ca­tion stand­point, from a man­u­fac­tur­ing stand­point, from a farm stand­point, …