CQ Risk Rating: Safe Democrat 
| GENERAL ELECTION: NOVEMBER 7, 2000 |
|
| Collin C. Peterson (D) | 185,771 | 69% |
| Glen Menze (R) | 79,175 | 29% |
| Owen Sivertson (CNSTP) | 5,550 | 2% |
| PRIMARY ELECTION: SEPTEMBER 12, 2000 |
|
| | Votes | Percentage | | Constitution |
| Owen Sivertson | 141 | 100% |
| | Democratic |
| Collin C. Peterson | 33,948 | 100% |
| | Republican |
| Glen Menze | 10,258 | 65% |
| Aleta Edin | 5,433 | 35% |
Source: Congressional Quarterly. To suggest updates and corrections: politics.feedback@cq.com
Major Industry | Population | Cities | People | Race | Median Household Income | Unusual Features |
MINNESOTA 7
:
Northwest - Moorhead; part of St. Cloud
The vast 7th, which takes in the northwest quadrant of the state,
includes the prairie wheat fields along the Red River and the hills, forests
and lakes in the middle of the state. The district's major population
center, St. Cloud, is former granite quarrying city and one of the fastest
growing cities in the state. Apart from St. Cloud and Moorhead, a sister
city to Fargo, N.D., there are few population centers. Farmers grow sugar
beets around Moorhead in the Red River Valley, which has some of the 7th's
most fertile farmland.
The Red River flood in 1997 capped nearly a decade of agricultural
struggle in the rural northwestern third of Minnesota. Floods, drought, crop
disease, diminishing federal safety nets and crop devaluation fatigued an
already struggling economy. Although the 7th's light manufacturing and
community colleges helped stabilize the situation, tourism and American
Indian reservation gaming suffered when farmers could no longer afford the
area's lake vacations or video slot machines.
Although a Democrat has held the congressional seat since 1990, the 7th
has been one of the state's most politically marginal districts. Residents
tend to be socially conservative and fiscally moderate. The district's most
conservative voters traditionally lived along the state's western border and
within predominantly Catholic Stearns County, while St. Cloud has served as
home to a mix of blue-collar Democrats and white-collar Republicans.
Major Industry
Agriculture, light manufacturing, tourism, timber
Population
547,011 (1990)
Cities
St. Cloud, 50,801; Moorhead, 33,343; Fergus Falls, 13,362 (1996)
People
62% rural; 15% age 65+ (ranks third of eight in state; top third
nationally); 61% married couples, 30% married couples with children; 15%
college educated (ranks sixth of eight in state; bottom third nationally);
49% white collar (ranks sixth of eight in state; bottom third nationally),
26% blue collar (ranks third of eight in state; middle third nationally)
(1990)
Race
97% white, 0% black, 0% Asian, 2% American Indian; 1% Hispanic origin (1990)
Median Household Income
$23,146 (ranks eighth of eight in state; bottom third nationally) (1990)
Unusual Features
Writer Sinclair Lewis, the first American to win the Nobel Prize for
Literature, grew up in Sauk Centre, 40 miles northwest of St. Cloud.
Source: Congressional Quarterly (Updated April 1999)
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District 7
