Democratic Gubernatorial Drought in Minnesota Is 3rd Longest in the Nation

Politically schizophrenic Gopher State’s 23-year dry spell without a DFL gubernatorial victory trails only GOP strongholds of South Dakota and Utah for longest in the U.S.

The first substantive chatter about Governor Tim Pawlenty’s presidential prospects began in earnest after the 2006 election, when Pawlenty impressed national observers by being one of the few vulnerable Republicans to stave off defeat during the Democratic tsunami that November.

Analysts (and DFL loyalists) have offered a number of theories to explain Pawlenty’s ’06 victory, such as DFLer Mike Hatch’s perceived implosion during the last few days of his campaign, Independence Party nominee Peter Hutchinson’s arguably siphoning off ‘Democratic votes’ from Hatch’s column, and Governor Pawlenty’s own political moxy.

Whatever the reason for Pawlenty’s survival, the GOP’s victory in 2006 extended by four more years a Democratic drought in gubernatorial contests in Minnesota that a Smart Politics analysis has found to be tied for the third longest in the nation.

The current 23-year drought endured by the DFL since Rudy Perpich was elected Governor of Minnesota in 1986 is eclipsed only by the Democratic dry spells in the conservative states of South Dakota (35 years, 1974) and Utah (29 years, 1980).

Connecticut is tied with the Gopher State for third, with its most recent Democratic governor, William O’Neill, also last elected in 1986.

The fact that the Democratic Party’s struggle to gain control of the governor’s mansion in Minnesota is being mentioned in the same breath with states like Utah and South Dakota highlights the schizophrenic nature of politics in the Gopher State – Minnesota also has the current longest streak across the 50 states in casting its electoral votes for the Democratic presidential nominee (nine contests, dating back to 1976).

But the DFL now finds itself in the same company with its Democratic brethren in the neighboring red states of South Dakota and North Dakota.

Together these states comprise three of the top five longest streaks in the country for gubernatorial elections without a Democratic winner (79 years collectively).

North Dakota has not elected a Democrat to its governor’s mansion since George Sinner in 1988.

And of the seven states in the nation with the longest Democratic gubernatorial droughts, only Minnesota and Connecticut voted for Barack Obama in the 2008 presidential contest. John McCain carried South Dakota by 8.4 points, Utah by 28.0 points, North Dakota by 8.7 points, Idaho by 25.3 points, and Texas by 11.8 points.

Number of Years Since Democratic Party Last Won Gubernatorial Election by State

* Denotes state in which Democratic Party won its most recent gubernatorial election. Data compiled by Smart Politics.

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