I coined the term “Minnewisowa” in 2004 in a Washington Times op-ed to describe the usually similar electoral behavior of three contiguous states — Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Iowa — in recent elections. These three states together deliver 26 electoral votes, a potentially critical total in a close presidential race.
In the years since, Minnesota has remained the most consistently blue state of the three, while Iowa has trended redder and Wisconsin has remained a hotly contested battleground. However, similar geographies and demographics mean that similar political pressures still influence the outcome of elections in the region.
In the critical 2026 national midterm elections, with control of the U.S. House and Senate up for grabs along with major gubernatorial contests, the megastate of Minnewisowa could again be vitally important to the direction of the country.
In Minnesota, Democrats’ margins of victory have been shrinking in recent cycles. This year, however, that blue advantage appears to have all but evaporated, and the indications are that Republicans could win several statewide races there. Conservatives are excitedly speculating whether Gopher State voters may deliver a repeat of the “Minnesota Massacre” of 1978, when the GOP won the governorship and two U.S. Senate seats as part of an upset sweep of state elections — despite major polls just before Election Day showing that the Democrats would win by big margins.
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