CQ Risk Rating: Leans Democratic 
| GENERAL ELECTION: NOVEMBER 7, 2000 |
|
| Mark Kennedy (R) | 138,957 | 48% |
| David Minge (D) | 138,802 | 48% |
| Gerald W. Brekke (INDC) | 7,875 | 3% |
| Ron Helwig (LIBERT) | 1,929 | 1% |
| Dennis A. Burda (CNSTP) | 1,337 | 0% |
| PRIMARY ELECTION: SEPTEMBER 12, 2000 |
|
| | Votes | Percentage | | Constitution |
| Dennis A. Burda | 170 | 100% |
| | Democratic |
| David Minge | 30,089 | 100% |
| | Independence |
| Gerald W. Brekke | 292 | 53% |
| Stan Bentz | 263 | 47% |
| | Republican |
| Mark Kennedy | 13,779 | 79% |
| Joe Wagner | 3,598 | 21% |
Source: Congressional Quarterly. To suggest updates and corrections: politics.feedback@cq.com
Major Industry | Population | Cities | People | Race | Median Household Income | Unusual Features
MINNESOTA 2
:
Southwest - Willmar
Tension between corporate and family farmers colors politics in
Minnesota's traditionally Republican, but trending Democratic southwestern
quadrant, where corn, soybeans, sugar beets and hogs are staples of the
economy.
Small farmers in the 2nd's hilly northwest and south-central areas vote
for the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party and helped anchor the district's
pro-Democrat votes for president and Congress in the 1990s. The 2nd's
Republican base is in its southern corners, where large tract farmers are
reliant on export business.
Suburban migration from Minneapolis to the 2nd's rapidly growing
northeastern counties has added to the number of affluent conservatives.
These suburban, bedroom communities are more likely to vote for Republicans
and conservative independents, as evidenced by their support for Jesse
Ventura in 1998. About 30 percent of the 2nd's population lives in these
communities based on high-tech industry.
Casinos are big business for the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux tribe in
Prior Lake, where rapid suburban growth became a conflict in the 1990s. With
an overwhelmingly German, Norwegian and Swedish ancestry, the district's
population is one of the most racially homogenous in the nation, although
the number of Hispanic and African immigrants is growing in agricultural
processing towns like Worthington and Willmar.
Major Industry
Agriculture, food processing, manufacturing, casinos
Population
546,890 (1990)
Cities
Willmar, 18,837; Chanhassen, 17,045; Chaska, 14,700 (1996)
People
60% rural; 16% age 65+ (ranks first of eight in state; top third
nationally); 65% married couples, 32% married couples with children; 13%
college educated (ranks eighth of eight in state; bottom third nationally);
46% white collar (ranks eighth of eight in state; bottom third nationally),
30% blue collar (ranks second of eight in state; top third nationally)
(1990)
Race
99% white, 0% black, 0% Asian; 1% Hispanic origin (1990)
Median Household Income
$26,937 (ranks sixth of eight in state; middle third nationally) (1990)
Unusual Features
Walnut Grove, childhood home of "Little House on the Prairie" series author
Laura Ingalls Wilder; Original world's largest ball of twine in Darwin;
World's largest lutefisk (cod) replica in Madison.
Source: Congressional Quarterly (Updated April 1999)
Front | Political News | Elections | The Issues | Federal Page | Polls
Columns - Cartoons | Live Online | Online Extras | Photo Galleries | Video - Audio
|
District 2
