Minnesota has many wonderful things to offer its residents, including beautiful rivers and lakes and a plethora of outdoor activities. Outsiders may wonder, however, about the political views within the city. Politics are, after all, a large part of life.
Minneapolis, Minnesota is a strongly liberal city. The Democratic party has a consistent majority within the city, allowing liberal views to be advocated through elected government officials and laws. Views and actions on gun laws, abortion, climate change, and financial contributions are liberal.
The city shows liberalism in many areas and is even believed to be a “safe haven” for liberalists looking to maintain legal rights to abortions. There are many other liberal beliefs that are protected within Minneapolis as well.
Voting Trends and Statistics
The quickest way to learn the political views of a city is by researching the most recent results of an important election. Minneapolis, for example, has voted Democratic in every election since 2000. The Democratic majority is incredibly strong within the city’s voting statistics.
In the 2020 presidential election, only 27.2% of Minneapolis voters supported the Republican party, and 2.3% voted Independent. The remaining 70.5% of participating voters supported the Democratic party candidate!
Hennepin County shows a powerful Democratic majority in recent voting statistics, and in those of past elections for more than 20 years! The city is very liberal in political views.
Abortion Views
Abortion is a polarizing topic that has people for or against it. Because of that, you might care about what the state or city you want to move to does in that area. Are they pro-abortion or pro-life? If you would prefer to live somewhere that has the same views as you in that area, then read below for some information about what Minneapolis believes in.
Many people in Minneapolis support the protection of legal abortion rights, a liberal view in political terms. The recent US Supreme Court announcement overruling Roe v Wade was publicized on June 24, 2022. Protesters gathered across the nation to stress their opposition to this endangerment of reproductive rights and to receive support from other pro-abortion citizens.
Protesters gathered in downtown Minneapolis
the very day of the announcement. They arrived with posters and signs that expressed their liberal positions on the pressing matter. One abortion clinic manager spoke of the reaction she and her colleagues shared upon hearing the Supreme Court announcement.
“But after we shed a few communal tears, we wiped them and we took a deep breath, and we got to work, because we have to give the same care to the patients we saw yesterday and to the patients we saw today…”
Eliza O’Brien, Whole Woman’s Health Clinic Manager
There were many other people across the city who felt the same way. Due to a 1995 trial, the state of Minnesota protects abortion rights and is poised to receive abortion-seekers from all four neighboring states. North Dakota, South Dakota, Wisconsin, and Iowa have all banned or restricted abortions. A group of students from the University of Minnesota organized a group of 10,000 protestors that marched to the Diana E. Murphy US Courthouse located in downtown Minneapolis.
Incredibly strong support was shown by the Minneapolis community in the announcement of the Supreme Court Decision. City and state residents share liberal political stances and vocalized these beliefs through words, voting, and actions when abortion rights were challenged in the US.
So, if you are pro-abortion, moving and living in Minneapolis is a great option. Most people there will have the same ideas as you and vote similarly, so you won’t have to deal with many abortion laws that you don’t agree with. If you don’t agree with abortion, you can still live here, but for some people, it is not preferred to live somewhere that has a lot of people that support things that you don’t agree with.
Elected Government Officials
Jacob Frey is currently serving as the mayor of Minneapolis, Minnesota. As is expected of the city’s liberal majority, Mayor Frey is a member of the Democratic party. He is known for his large support of liberal ideals, especially in eco-friendly efforts, strict gun laws, and policies that combat climate change.
The Democratic party also controls the Minnesota House of Representatives with a 69:64 majority. They also claim the offices of the governor, attorney general, and secretary of state. The Republican party currently controls the upper chamber, but the lower chamber is under Democratic control as well.
Financial Contributions
The recent financial contributions made to political parties can show that an area is strongly supporting one political party more than another. In Minneapolis, these statistics indicate strongly liberal views that completely overpower conservative opposition.
From 2018 to 2021, the residents of Minneapolis are recorded to have made 4,024 contributions to Republican and conservative party campaigns. This total of $2,221,334 was made in donations to conservative views over this four-year time period with an average of $552 per contribution.
Democratic party and liberal campaigns received considerably more support with 77,339 contributions and $14,009,245 in the same four-year time period. These campaigns averaged $181 per contribution.
In total, the Democratic and liberal campaigns received 73.315 more contributions and $11,787,911 more in overall finances gained from residents of Minneapolis. These numbers speak for themselves and show that Minneapolis is a very liberal city.
Gun Control
Liberal cities and supporters work to limit citizen access and possession of firearms. They believe that guns should remain primarily, if not solely, in the possession of law enforcement officers. Republicans often believe that criminals will get guns no matter what restrictions and laws are in place, so there shouldn’t be too many restrictions on guns for everyone because good citizens need to have the ability to protect themselves and their families from those criminals who will have guns.
So, considering that Minneapolis is a liberal area, you can expect that they will vote for more gun control because for them the pure availability of guns invites violence and puts adults and kids at risk. You can look into this more and decide what your thoughts are, but below is more on Minneapolis and guns.
Mayor Frey and the voting citizens of Minneapolis support strong gun laws. The city police officers are currently focused on the removal of illegal guns from residents to decrease gun violence and homicides. Interim Police Chief Amelia Huffman reported that officers removed 1,000 guns from the streets in 2021 alone, despite the loss of nearly a third of their office staff. Mayor Frey spoke about the continuing of this process and its current success for this year.
“We have police officers that have gotten over 400 guns off the street this year alone. That is incredible work. Over the last 28 days, homicides are down by 60%. So, are we there yet? Hell no, but they’re making progress.”
Mayor jacob frey; minneapolis, minnesota
There have been a high number of gun homicide reports within the city, with especially high victim rates among African American men and boys. City officials are working to remove illegal firearms as quickly and effectively as they are able to decrease these tragic occurrences.
Strict gun policies and laws are known as a liberal view. The large focus that the city of Minneapolis has placed on this effort is an indication of liberal supporters. Conservative communities would struggle to receive the voting and officer support to take such great efforts toward the strengthening and enforcement of gun possession among citizens.
Climate Change
Continual combat against climate change is another liberal effort that Minneapolis supports wholeheartedly. The Minneapolis Climate Action Plan has a series of short-term and long-term goals, all of which are dedicated to the sole focus of reducing the city’s climate impact as much and as quickly as possible. The city reduced greenhouse gas emissions within the entire city by 15% in 2015 and is on track to reduce them by 30% in 2025. The city plans to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 80% by the year 2050.
Minneapolis tracks its gas emissions and works to coordinate these eco-friendly efforts with local residents and government officials. The city is a proud supporter of climate change and is consistently achieving high goals they are setting to improve.
Climate change is one of the most talked about politics of this generation, as are the other topics discussed in this article. Depending on your views about it, you may want to live somewhere that has strong support for climate change, or you might not care so much. You may like to help the environment, but it doesn’t matter to you if your whole city follows suit with that. So, if you are someone who needs climate change support in your area, then Minneapolis can be a great place to move to and live at.
But, no matter what, you can live anywhere and decide to live in cleaner ways for the environment. you can do things yourself or with your family to better your community, and that might be the effort of change that you need in your community.
