Wait, so where in Minnesota did Kanye get all his votes?

Mr. Kardashian pulled in more than 7,000 votes from around our fair state.

Rapper Kanye West's campaign website says "our future is waiting on us," but even with a big nudge from voters in Minnesota, it might have to wait until 2024.

First, a reminder. Yes, Kanye West ran for president. He was on the ballot here and in 11 other states. He even conceded when he lost.

Although it's true that Minnesota gave Kanye his second-largest share of votes, after accounting for population in each state, we are only middling in relative Kanye votes per capita, or KVPCs, if you will (technically, this rate is per 1,000 residents, but that wouldn't make for a good acronym).

Vermont, another state with an affinity for candidates who don't toe the party line, comes out on top in KVPCs — two in every 1,000 residents there checked the box for 'Ye.

Until West announced his candidacy as a "Birthday Party" candidate on July 4, his most high-profile brush with politics had been an extended rant he gave during a 2018 White House visit with Trump.

In total, Yeezy pulled in more than 60,000 votes total, and at least one of those votes was from himself.

On Election Day, West, whose hits include "Stronger" and "Gold Digger," shared photos and videos casting what he called his very first vote.

Minnesota is, of course, a state with a tradition of backing third-party insurgencies like that of former Gov. Jesse Ventura, so it might not be too surprising that several thousand of us decided Kanye West was our best bet for President of these United States.

So where did all these Kanye-voters come from? Well, all over the state.

There were a handful of precincts where Kanye pulled in more than 5% of the vote, where he had more votes than other third-party candidates like Libertarian Jo Jorgenson.

Still, most of those precincts are awfully small in terms of voter population — these are places where less than 5 votes for Mr. West look high, but there were usually 50 or fewer votes cast in total.

Instead, here's where he pulled in the highest sheer number of votes — no surprise, most of them are in the metro where more people live in each precinct. Only three gave him more than 20 votes: in Minneapolis' Near North and Fowell neighborhoods, and one in St. Paul's North End.

It might not sound like a lot, but a few votes here and there really do add up to 0.2% of the total presidential vote here, enough for 5th place.

News Developer Michael Corey contributed to this report.

Data source: Minnesota Secretary of State's Office

about the writers

about the writers

C.J. Sinner

Director of Graphics & Data Visuals

C.J. Sinner is the Director of Graphics and Data Visuals at the Star Tribune, managing a small team that works at the intersection of data and design to help enhance storytelling on all platforms through charts, maps and diagrams. 

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Zoë Jackson

Reporter

Zoë Jackson is a general assignment reporter for the Star Tribune. She previously covered race and equity, St. Paul neighborhoods and young voters on the politics team.

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Michael Corey

News Developer

Michael Corey is a news developer for the Star Tribune. He specializes in data journalism, and his reporting has focused on mapping, science, remote sensing, history, data on the radio, police use of force, the U.S.-Mexico border wall and sexual abuse in the Catholic Church.

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