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MPR News Staff

Does the DFL have a future in rural Minnesota?

People watch the results roll in.
Attendees of the DFL Election Night party watch the results come in on a projection screen inside the Minneapolis Hilton on Nov. 8.
Evan Frost | MPR News

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The 2016 election brought widespread losses for Democrats across Minnesota in rural areas.

The state House remained in Republican control, while the Senate flipped with several DFL seats across the state moving to the GOP.

"We have to do a better job [communicating to our constituents]," said Nancy Larson, the DFL's 7th Congressional District party chair. "These are the people we work hardest for, but they don't know it because our communication hasn't been correct."

The 7th District is Minnesota's largest, and covers most of the state's western territory, from the Canadian border along the Dakotas, south through Pipestone County and west to Redwood County. Incumbent Rep. Collin Peterson (DFL-Detroit Lakes) kept his seat in the 2016 election.

Larson joined MPR News host Tom Weber and former state Rep.Joe Radinovich, who represented District 10B in north-central Minnesota, and also ran DFL U.S. Rep. Rick Nolan's re-election campaign this fall.

"I think the future belongs to the political party that can answer questions about the changing economy and how we address the needs of the people working in the economy going forward," said Radinovich.

Senate Republicans took seven seats across the state, while House Republicans defeated two longtime DFL representatives in Grand Rapids and Bemidji.

And while Hillary Clinton won the majority of the state's presidential votes, it was by a narrow margin. Nineteen outstate counties that voted for Democrat Barack Obama in 2012 GOP President-elect Donald Trump, a Republican this year.

Is the DFL dead in rural Minnesota? If not, what must the party to do bring back those rural votes?

To hear the full conversation, use the audio player above.