A shift left in Twin Cities suburbs cheers Democrats

Using data, maps and interviews, colleague Rachel E. Stassen-Berger and I lay out exactly how Democrats have improved their performance in the Twin Cities suburbs over recent decades. After smoothing out anomalies, such as three-way contests, uncontested races or disproportionately popular candidates, we showed that Democratic claims of suburban gains are real — though counteracted to a lesser extent by Republican gains in exurban areas. (Pioneer Press 09/27/2015)

The article is embedded below. At right is an animated map I created to show the blue tide creeping out from the Twin Cities’ urban core into its suburbs over two decades.

More maps are available here and in the story below.