How did the Northeaster area vote compare to the nation? Looking at the national maps showing metropolitan areas voting blue in a sea of red, we wondered if our suburban component is significantly different from our urban. The answer: Yes, though taken alone, either would still have elected Hillary Clinton by a comfortable margin.
Was there down-ballot correlation in disaffection with major parties? The statistics suggest “somewhat.” Here are some of the numbers, rounded for brevity:
In Northeast Minneapolis:
Clinton’s spread over Trump was at its lowest locally in Minneapolis Ward 1, Precinct 1 (1-1), with 69% to Trump’s 19% and Jill Stein the highest of the alternative party candidates with 4%. In that same precinct and in 1-8, challengers to DFL incumbents State Senator Kari Dziedzic and State Representative Diane Loeffler racked up about 29% of the votes, the highest of what one might call “disaffection” votes. Both incumbents won handily.
There were no Republicans running in District 60. In 60A, Rep. Loeffler’s challenger was Gabe Barnett (Independent Progressive Liberal) and Sen. Dziedzic’s challenger was Marty Super of the Legal Marijuana Now party.
The highest Clinton vote percentage appeared in 1-8, at 79% to 11% for Trump with 3.4% for the Green Party’s Stein and 2.8 for Libertarian Gary Johnson. Precincts 3-4 and 3-6 showed similar Clinton percentages, with Stein and Johnson polling more than 6% combined. In 3-5 and 3-10, Trump polled 15% and the alternate party candidates more than 6%. In 3-10, Democrat Congressman Keith Ellison polled only 68%, otherwise he was strong throughout Northeast in mid to high 70 percentages.
In other precincts, the votes against the state level incumbents were less pronounced, in the mid-20s, with Precincts 1-2 and 1-3 going for the challengers in only 19 to 20% of the time.
Columbia Heights & Hilltop:
Columbia Heights compares to Northeast as less favorable to Clinton, with her strongest precinct, 1, at 68% of the vote to Trump’s 23% with Gary Johnson the strongest of the alternative candidates at 3.64%. The lowest turnout for Clinton was 56% in Precinct 6, which also approved 5th District Congressman Keith Ellison by only 57% and gave Carolyn Laine and Mary Kunesh Podein their lowest numbers in the Heights.
Laine, the DFL candidate for State Senate District 41B, well-known in Heights for her previous service in the State House as well as the Heights school board, pulled a high of 70 percent in Precinct 2 and a low of 62 in Precinct 6 against Republican Gary R. Johnson, who said he did not spend any money on his campaign.
Kunesh-Podein, the DFLer who won Laine’s former post, was up against Camden Pike, a Republican who had run against Laine previously. She polled about evenly with Laine’s numbers, or a little less, throughout the district.
Hilltop’s votes: 68% Clinton, 22% Trump, Ellison by 60% in a three-way Congressional race with the other candidates at about 20% each. Laine 62%-Johnson 37%,
Kunesh-Podein 59% Pike 40%.
St. Anthony & New Brighton:
Throughout St. Anthony in the 41B district, percentages for Clinton were in the low 60s, 53% in New Brighton’s 3rd Precinct. Trump pulled numbers around 30% with Libertarian Gary Johnson the leader among the minor candidates with about 4%.
The legislative races were closer there as well, with Laine and Kunesh-Podein besting their opponents by percentages ranging from 56 to 43 in New Brighton Precinct 3 to 64-35 in St. Anthony’s one Ramsey County precinct.