Demographics and Politics

Percentage of people below the poverty line (darker is poorer):

Minnesota House Districts:

My comparison would be even better before the 2010 midterms, when Chip Cravaack ousted longtime Democrat Jim Oberstar in the MN-8, the shaded district in the NE. But I think the pattern is still startlingly clear. The ring of wealthy suburbs around the Twin Cities Metro are a bastion of conservatives. When you and your neighbors are discussing which new luxury sedan to buy, thoughts of the plight of the poor don't enter your mind.