Minnesota on the edge: ‘I’ve voted Democrat my whole life. It’s getting tougher’
ELY, Minn. — At the edge of a vast wilderness ringed by lakes and woods, a surprise discovery provided a rare jolt of optimism for a struggling mining town now known mainly as a prime destination for canoers: Massive deposits of nickel and copper — minerals that power cars and smartphones — lie under the earth.
All of that put Ely in the middle of a political transformation that makes Minnesota the president’s top target among states he lost in 2016 — and potentially a pivot point in the 2020 presidential race. Trump lost the state by 45,000 votes in 2016, a remarkable feat considering how entrenched Democrats have been in the state.The area's growing affinity toward Trump provides a case study in how the president has brought the blue-collar vote to heel with a mix of culture and economic promise.
Every time Chris Johnson gathers his United Steelworkers Local 2705 at the hall in Chisholm, the union of roughly 600 mine workers that pull iron ore out of the Hibbing Taconite mine have one question: Why isn’t their leadership going all-in on Trump? The environmental priorities of Democrats at the national and state levels are shifting support in places like the Iron Range, where even pro-labor members feel increasingly alienated by a platform more suited to a political party that is rapidly becoming more urbanized.
He said he’s leaning toward supporting Bernie Sanders. “I wish I could put my hand on the transformation going on around here,” he said from his union hall in the city of Virginia, a building wrapped in a mural of military men and women in uniform. He was the sole person from his voting precinct in Hibbing to show up to a late-February caucus night for Democrats, known in Minnesota as the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party. A paltry crowd of 35 people representing 10 precincts in a city of 16,000 showed up to the event.
Before the coronavirus crisis hit, mine workers in the area had enjoyed some clear benefits from economic growth in the Trump era. Overall employment in St. Louis County grew by only 0.7 percent from the third quarter of 2016 to the third quarter of 2019 , compared to 4.2 percent growth in natural resources and mining employment in the county. But wages in natural resources and mining increased a robust 31 percent in the county, compared with 5 percent wage growth across all of Minnesota.
Workers at L&M Radiator, located in Hibbing, Minnesota, build a giant radiator to be later installed on a truck supporting the mine industry.Talk of economic diversification in the Iron Range is usually met with a shake of the head and shrug of shoulders. No one’s betting on the area becoming a tech hub or even a center for nonmining manufacturing. Even local leaders concede that pulling minerals out of the land is what people do here.
The uncertain fate of the iron-ore industry is fueling the debate over nickel-copper mining that permeates conversations along the entire range. Twin Metals said the 100-acre site won’t pose the environmental risk that people fear. The company insists its method of processing the mine waste won’t jeopardize the surrounding lakes and waterway. Proponents point to an underground nickel-copper mine in operation on Michigan’s Upper Peninsula as a model for the industry in northern Minnesota.
Trump’s steel tariffs and protective trade policies have left a region long dependent on mining here wanting even more. The president imposed a 25 percent tariff on most imported steel in 2018, but most people don’t highlight the policy as the saving grace Trump touts it to be. While steel prices initially shot up, they’ve settled back down as the U.S. steel industry continues to undergo a somewhat painful transformation.
Stauber is “not running a political campaign, he’s running a cultural campaign, and it’s invincible as far as I’m concerned,” said Aaron Brown, a fifth generation Iron Ranger who teaches at Hibbing Community College and writes commentary on local issues.
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