Author

Aaron Booth

Aaron Booth

Aaron Booth is a Twin Cities actor and elections reporter and analyst for Decision Desk HQ who is a regular contributor to the Reformer.

4 maps showing how Minneapolis and St. Paul voted on key ballot questions

By: and - November 4, 2021

In some parts of Minneapolis with lots of progressive voters, the signs were ubiquitous: “NoYesYes.”  That referred to the ballot questions faced by city voters Tuesday, who were asked whether they wanted to strengthen the mayor’s office; dismantle the police department and create an office of public safety; and allow the City Council to write […]

COMMENTARY

Our theatres have gone dark and our souls are poorer for it. But don’t forget: The artists are literally poorer.

By: - November 25, 2020

It was the first week of March, and I had just gotten back to Minneapolis after a long day flying back from D.C. where I was covering the Super Tuesday election night returns. I did not really think much of it at the time — government guidance was still to not wear a mask, and […]

polling place in Minnesota vote here

The Minnesota precincts to watch on Election Day

By: - November 3, 2020

There’s a bit of everything in this list that Minnesota election analysts will be watching closely, including a variety of suburbs, small rural towns, etc. The big questions are whether areas that voted for President Barack Obama and then for Donald Trump flip back to the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party; whether the Democrats can push even farther […]

Line of people waiting to vote

Analysis: Population, demographic and voter registration data are ominous for the Minnesota GOP

By: - October 19, 2020

Minnesota has not been the fastest growing state in the nation, but the North Star State has grown at a steady clip over the past decade, with most of the growth in the Twin Cities metro. And, there have even been some pockets of population loss in rural areas. As we consider the state’s politics, […]

Analysis: Partisanship, geographic divide could hinder COVID-19 response

By: - March 19, 2020

America’s editorial writers, centrist pundits and think tank talkers have long decried the loss of civic trust in American institutions like government and the press, as well as the polarization that drives our politics today.  Harvard sociologist Robert Putnam wrote an entire book about the decline of civic engagement and took it as a given […]

These four counties show how Minnesota politics has changed while remaining stubbornly light blue

By: - February 20, 2020

The past few election cycles have seen massive shifts in the geographic balance of the two major parties, typified in the polarized Minnesota map of voting patterns in the 2016 presidential election. The trend follows familiar developments that happened in other states much earlier — Democrats winning urban areas while Republicans consolidated their hold on […]

Presidential primary voting starts in Minnesota today. What do polls and data tell us?

By: - January 17, 2020

Want to see the maps? Check out our slideshow at the bottom of this story.  Minnesotans may not be first in the nation in the presidential race like Iowa, but we will be first to go to the polls. That’s because early voting starts Friday, 46 days before our March 3 presidential primary.  Without good […]