re: Why are all those northern Midwest/Great Lakes states so liberal?

My theory is they brought and further developed a cultural identity that works for a homogenous society that depends on a healthy measure of mutual reliance and behavioral norms that support such.

When you blend in elements that don't fit or work in that, and actively destroy it, many still can't shake the mindset.

They are playing a game where the board and players have changed, but they don't adapt

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Minnesota

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They are weird as hell. No other way to put it. And MSP is THE giant, powerful metro area in that area and it dominates the political landscape in that state.

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Illinois

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Outside of Chicago and their suburbs, Illinois is a typical midwestern state politically - a lot like Indiana. Chicago is just massive and a very powerful political force. It sucks down a lot of state resources and the rest of the state likely will never thrive because of it. That penis envy that Chicago has about New York results in a lot of expensive public works projects that would only be possible in a state where a single metro controls the whole thing.

In fairness, Chicago is an economic powerhouse and is a legitimately great city if you can get past the crazy politics. But there is a "Chicagoland vs the rest of the state" political wedge in Illinois.

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Wisconsin

Michigan

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These aren't that liberal, but there is a powerful organized labor pool in both states. That group has started to tilt right in the last two major elections though. Both of these states are grappling with some issues with elections, ballet harvesting, and other issues that are already ironed out in other states. Once they figure that whole thing out, you should expect them to be firmly purple or even slightly red statewide.

Michigan is also heavily dominated by the Detroit metro area politically. That area isn't as left leaning as Chicago, but it's still pretty far left.

Source: I lived in the midwest for a long time.

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They drink too much and aren’t Catholic

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First part is right. Second part couldn’t be further from the truth.

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Christianity is the dominant religion in Wisconsin, with Catholics and various Protestant denominations (especially Lutherans) being the largest groups, alongside a growing segment of religiously unaffiliated residents and smaller communities of other faiths like Judaism and Islam, particularly in urban areas like Milwaukee. The state is noted for its significant Lutheran population, a legacy of German and Scandinavian settlement, and a strong Catholic presence.

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dewster

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Yup, and the unions in Illinois and Michigan are very powerful

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A bunch of white people that dont live in the demographics that we have in the south and believe everything they hear on the news.

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Also much more likely to live in soulless, post-war suburbs with no real sense of place or community identity or pride other than the quality of secular public education or their local professional sports team.

So they try to fill that void in the wrong ways.

Minnesota - drive I-90 across Southern Minnesota and there are Trump flags flying all over the place. Outstate Minnesota is rural and conservative. Even the MSP suburbs are more conservative than the inner city core.

Have lots of friends in Minny, my oldest goes to school there, and I'm up there a lot. It's not a "liberal" state. It's a state that elects Democrats because the inner core of MSP tilts the elections that way.

As for the Scandinavian heritage talk here, what's been said in this thread makes no sense when you consider North and South Dakota have a heavy Scandinavian heritage and both are hard red states.

A shite ton of Protestants and happy people. Also a lot of union worker history in those parts which leads to generational political leanings. Not to mention, they don’t still hold a grudge about a war that happened 160 years ago.

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Why are all those northern Midwest/Great Lakes states so liberal?

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Because Democrat “ eDuCaTiOnS”

I'll add the DFL, Democrat Farm Labor Party, is a machine in Minnesota. But I'd say the DFL of today no longer represents the farmers and laborers like they used to. But old voting habits die hard.