Minnesota Republicans had a decent 2020 election. They captured a U.S. House seat from Democrats, held their state Senate majority and grew their state House numbers.
But their U.S. Senate candidate, Jason Lewis, won only 43.5% of the vote statewide the latest in an increasingly long list of Republican candidates who have fallen well short of a majority of Minnesota.
Former Gov. Tim Pawlenty was the last Minnesota Republican to win statewide, in 2006. But he got there with 46.7% of the vote in a three-way race.
Star Tribune reader Ron Kroll asked Curious Minnesota, our community reporting project: When was the last time a Republican candidate garnered at least 50% of the vote in an election for statewide office in Minnesota?
Why was I-94 built through St. Paul s Rondo neighborhood?
The highway connected Minneapolis and St. Paul, but its construction tore a hole through a thriving, historic Black neighborhood. December 18, 2020 8:49am Related coverage
Floyd Smaller was a junior walking home from Mechanic Arts High School in the late 1950s when he saw bulldozers and cranes start moving dirt in his beloved Rondo neighborhood. By the time he was a senior, St. Paul s Rondo resembled a battlefield. There were big holes and trenches. It looked like World War I, said Smaller, 84. Over the next decade, a huge swath of land on either side of Rondo Avenue became No Man s Land, as more than 600 homes and 300 businesses many of them Black-owned were razed or moved to clear the way for Interstate Hwy. 94 connecting St. Paul and Minneapolis.
Why does Minneapolis keep planting trees under power lines?
After a few years, the trees are pruned into ridiculous V shapes to keep them from hitting power lines, a Curious Minnesota reader points out. December 12, 2020 8:16pm Related coverage
For years Rick Polenek has walked around his Minneapolis neighborhood and noticed big trees with odd, V-shaped gaps through the branches.
They were planted under power lines by the city, a decision by planners who had to know the trees would eventually need pruning, he said.
So Polenek turned to Curious Minnesota, the Star Tribune s community-driven reporting project fueled by questions from readers.