Minnesota has favored Democratic candidates for years, but the state’s capital cities are not always an accurate depiction of a city’s political views. In the case of St. Paul, however, liberal beliefs are present in both parties.
St. Paul, Minnesota is a highly liberal city. This is apparent through the city’s voting statistics and trends, elected government officials, financial contributions to the Democratic party and liberal campaigns, and abortion views. As the state capital, St. Paul follows Minnesota’s Democratic lean.
There are many aspects of St. Paul, its leadership, and its residents that show this liberalism. Some of these liberal views are explained to help understand the strength of these views within the city. Keep reading to find out more!
What Views are Liberal?
St. Paul, Minnesota is a city that promotes many liberal views and policies, but what views are considered to be liberal and what is considered to be more conservative?
Liberals work for strong and highly involved government power and system. They want this government to actively aid its citizens and ensure that no one is left in a state of need without receiving help or aid. Conservatives value a less-involved government, and promote power, independence, and freedom for individual citizens, allowing them to use their freedoms and abilities to solve their own problems and care for their personal needs.
Conservative views promote the implementation of religious beliefs in the formation of political opinions. Liberals, on the other hand, believe that religion and politics should remain separate and not affect one another. This is one of many differences in beliefs between the two parties. Another difference lies in party association. Democrats generally support more liberal and progressive views in their political involvement and opinions. The Republican party is more commonly associated with conservative beliefs and practices.
Liberals support the legalization of many practices that conservatives oppose. They promote legalizing physician-assisted suicide, abortion, embryotic research, and same-sex marriage. Conservatives strive to ban and prohibit these same practices, largely because of their foundational religious beliefs that human lives are invaluable and that marriage should be between a man and a woman. Many Democrats are religious as well but choose to keep these beliefs separated from politics.
Being a highly liberal city, St. Paul supports many Democratic and liberal views and practices. Some of the most basic practices supported by liberal views include a highly involved government, LGBTQ rights, universal healthcare, high taxes on the wealthy to end poverty, LGBTQ+ rights, limited use of fossil fuels, increased usage of eco-friendly power sources, and keeping firearms in law enforcement possession, out of the hands of citizens. Conservatives, however, promote a less involved government, traditional family values, a free market system, protection of gun rights for citizens, lower taxes, and bans on abortion.
Voting Statistics and Trends
The voting statistics
and recent trends show that the city is highly liberal. In the 2020 presidential election, the city was overwhelmingly Democratic in its votes. Approximately 71.5% of the city’s participants in the election voted for the Democratic Party. Only 26.1% voted for the Republican party candidate, and 2.4% voted Independent.
This election did not only have a Democratic win, but a strong Democratic majority to support it. Over half of the voting residents of St. Paul had enough liberal views and values to promote the election of a Democratic president in their most recent Presidential election votes. In fact, Ramsey county has voted Democratic in every Presidential election since the year 2000. Since 1900, Minnesota has voted Democratic 64.5% of the time.
Financial Contributions to Political Campaigns
The city’s voting statistics are not the only evidence of St. Paul’s strongly liberal views. Recent financial contributions and raised funds through donations in the city show that residents value liberal and Democratic campaigns above those of the Republican party and conservative competitors.
In the four years from 2018 to 2021, a total of $4,564,199 were donated to Democratic and liberal campaigns from a total of 47,732 contributions! This is an average of $96 per contribution made in this period.
A total of 4,099 contributions gave Republican and conservative campaigns in St. Paul $3,842,669 in donations from 2018 to 2021. They averaged a total of $937 per contribution made.
The Democratic and liberal campaigns, as the numbers show, received an incredible amount of financial support in the city of St. Paul over the last four years. They received 43,663 more contributions than the opposing campaigns in the city. They also raised $721,530 more in donations.
Liberal and Democratic organizations received higher amounts of support and larger quantities in monetary value as well! These statistics represent the last four years of financial donations in the city, proving that liberal views have had an incredible amount of support in the financial area from St. Paul residents for some time now.
Elected Government Officials
The current mayor of St. Paul, Minnesota is Melvin Carter. Mayor Carter is the city’s first African-American mayor and is associated with the Democratic party. He assumed office on January 1, 2018, and served a full four-year term. Carter was then reelected in November of 2021.
St Paul residents elected a Democratic mayor to run their city nearly five years ago. They then continued with this support of liberal values in reelecting Carson to serve another four-year term leading the city. The liberal majority in St Paul is shown in their support of a mayor with similar liberal views.
Additionally, the Democratic Party currently controls the State’s House of Representatives. The House Speaker and Majority Leader are also members of the Democratic party. The Minnesota State Governor is also affiliated with the Democratic party, giving the Democrats control over the offices of governor, secretary of state, and attorney general as well.
Climate Change
In 2020, the city released a new climate plan. The Saint Paul Climate Justice Advisory Board (CJAB) was organized as well. This allowed a variety of community members to be involved in these plans and changes to increase efforts against climate change. Speaking of this Advisory Board, the mayor encouraged community members to be involved.
“Ensuring the many voices of our community are heard in shaping our climate action and resilience work is vital... I invite all those interested in helping us realize a sustainable future for all of us to get involved by applying for the Climate Justice Advisory Board.”
Mayor Melvin Carter; St Paul, Minnesota
Some of the city’s main goals aim for St Paul to decrease emissions by 50% by 2030. A longer-term goal is that of carbon neutrality by the year 2050. St Paul has a series of adjustments and plans for these goals to come to pass that is outlined in the written Saint Paul Climate Action & Resilience Plan that is available to the public as well. As the mayor stated, they highly encourage and welcome all interested community members to be involved in these efforts and join the advisory board to help make these decisions and changes within the city.
The fight against climate change is one that Democratic and liberal supporters give a lot of time and energy to. Liberals focus on our carbon footprint, gas emissions, the use of fossil fuels, and other environmental factors. They highly support adopting more eco-friendly systems and the methods they are able to use to positively impact the environment.
Liberal cities often have climate change plans and efforts. This plan and the community-involved advisory board show that the city most definitely has a liberal majority and political view.
LGBTQ+
Minnesota was the 12th of the fifty US states to legalize same-sex marriage. This took place on August 1, 2013. The first gay couple to be married in the state of Minnesota held a ceremony late the night before the act was legalized, and were married only moments after midnight.
The state of Minnesota was also the first of the 50 to protect the civil rights of transgender people through Human Rights legislation. In 1993, they also included sexual orientation in their Minnesota Human Rights Statute, protecting all people within the state from discrimination based on their sexual orientation. This was an early and large step toward protecting and supporting the LGBTQ+ community.
In addition to guaranteeing legal rights and protecting them from discrimination, St Paul has many events held to celebrate Pride month, most of which are held annually. Some of this year’s events include:
- Pride Grand Marshal Mask-queer-ade Party
- Youth Pride 2021
- Pride Family Fun Day
- Twin Cities Pride Festival
- Pride Beer Dabbler
The city has long supported the LGBTQ+ community and worked to help them find safe and happy places living within the community. These efforts did not end in 1993, or even in 2013 when statutes and laws were passed. St Paul protects and supports all of its citizens, regardless of background or sexual orientation. This large and long-lasting support to the LGBTQ+ individuals is a sign of the strong liberalism within St Paul, as this is an important effort for the Democratic party and liberal views.
