Democratic excitement, Minnesota pride on display at State Fair

DFL politicians typically gather to greet fairgoers at the entrance of the Minnesota State Fair on opening day. But this is not your typical year in politics.

Two months ago, no one could have predicted Gov. Tim Walz would skip opening day because he’d be vying for the White House alongside Vice President Kamala Harris.

With Walz in the mix, Minnesota pride was on full display around the fair’s DFL booth. And Democrats I spoke with mostly agreed the party is in a better place with Harris and Walz in the race.

“I think people really have a happier outlook than we did a month ago,” said Vicky Iliffe, a DFL staffer who’s been coming to the fair on and off for the past 20 years and said the booth is the busiest she’s ever seen.

The DFL sold $190,000 worth of merchandise in just three days, breaking the party’s sales record set in 2019. And the party said the now infamous Harris-Walz camo hats sold out in less than an hour on the first day of the fair.

“I think Biden stepping down was the right thing for the future of the DNC,” said Karen Dekker of Prior Lake. “When we think about young people, where we need to go, issues that I think the older generation is more reluctant to embrace — climate change, reproductive rights — we have to get with the times.”

Democratic U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar said many voters she spoke with at the fair told her they were ready for a change on the ticket. “One thing maybe I didn’t expect. I thought our base Democrats would be fired up. But I did not expect that there’d just be a lot of this Minnesota pride coming out of it,” Klobuchar said.

“Everybody is just in a really great mood. I think that there is this really strong sense that people are excited about the choice that they have now,” U.S. Sen. Tina Smith said.

“I’ve been coming to the fair in August for decades and the number of people that are at the DFL booth is really noticeably big. This is the kind of thing that you can’t manufacture. Energy and enthusiasm is something you can’t fake,” Smith continued.

This was my first time going to a state fair and I was amazed at how politics, animals, food, carnival rides and hundreds of thousands of people can fit into one space.

Wander into the Miracle of Birth Center and you’ll find pregnant animals getting ready to give birth. Walk out, and a politician is on the stage at a media booth and crisp fried pickles are getting served down the street. Make your way to the sheep and poultry barn and sheep are loudly baaing as they get strapped in for shearing.

State Fair politics is just as diverse.

Turn the corner, and fairgoers are lining up at the “Never Walz” booth headed by the conservative group Action 4 Liberty to spin a wheel that can land you anywhere from “COVID snitch line” to “tax increases,” and will get you a “Never Walz” fan.

“Fairgoers are disgusted with Tim Walz and his repeated lies that he uses to climb the political ladder,” Erik Mortensen, who heads Action 4 Liberty, said in an email.

“I’ve seen enough of him to know that I don’t agree with what he’s saying at all,” said Cheryl of Champlin, who wouldn’t give her last name. She’d just won a “Never Walz” fan and was waving it while standing in line at the Dairy Building when we caught up.

Minnesota Republican Party Executive Director Anna Mathews said she’s seen a lot of young voters stopping by the party’s booth to register to vote and voters requesting absentee ballots. The party has also had to get new shipments of several Trump shirts, she said.

“A lot of people are just embarrassed that Tim Walz is on the ticket,” Mathews said. “They don’t want him to be the representation of Minnesota.”

Top-of-the-ticket candidates crisscrossed their way around the fair. I trailed Klobuchar, who’s seeking a fourth term, and talked to Libertarian U.S. Senate candidate Rebecca Whiting, and my colleague Chris Vondracek spoke with the Republican candidate Royce White.

“We offer another option, an option that’s not agenda-based, that’s based on philosophy,” Whiting said of her third-party candidacy.

U.S. Rep. Dean Phillips had just returned from the Democratic National Convention when I caught up with him after he posed for a photo with a sheep. He admitted he did not plan to attend the DNC after his long-shot presidential run, which upset members of his party.

But his return from the DNC to the State Fair was met with praise.

“I’ve never had an interaction here that was other than really thoughtful,” Phillips said of the Republicans and Democrats at the fair who praised him for his run.