These Are Minnesota's Most Republican And Most Democratic Towns

ST. PAUL, MN — DFLer Peggy Flanagan carried Minnesota in the U.S. Senate race with about 53.7 percent of the vote, according to unofficial results. But a closer look at the numbers shows just how differently the state's cities and townships voted.

Patch analyzed the precinct-level results from the Minnesota Secretary of State's Office, combining all 4,105 of the state's precincts into the cities and townships they belong to.

To keep tiny townships with a few dozen voters from crowding the rankings, Patch only included places where at least 500 votes were cast in the Senate race.

The most Republican place was Elmdale Township in central Minnesota's Morrison County, where Republican Michele Tafoya won 86.5 percent of the vote to Flanagan's 9.6 percent, a margin of about 77 points.

Albany Township in Stearns County was a close second. Tafoya's share of the vote there was actually higher, at 87.7 percent, but Flanagan also did slightly better.

Stearns County was home to six of the 10 most Republican places in the state.

Every place in the top 10 was a township except one: the city of Edgerton in Pipestone County, where Tafoya won 82.1 percent. That made Edgerton the most Republican city in Minnesota with at least 500 votes cast.

On the other end, Minneapolis was the most Democratic city in the state. Flanagan won 88.9 percent of the more than 210,000 votes cast there. St. Paul came in second at 83.5 percent, followed by the small Ramsey County cities of Falcon Heights and Lauderdale.

Grand Marais in Cook County was the only place in the DFL top 10 outside the Twin Cities metro.

One area voted even more heavily for Flanagan than Minneapolis but was left out of the rankings because it isn’t a city or township. In the Red Lake Nation precincts of Ponemah, Redby and Red Lake in Beltrami County, Flanagan won 94.5 percent of the 1,736 votes cast.

Most Republican places in Minnesota

1. Elmdale Township, Morrison County: Tafoya 86.5%, Flanagan 9.6%
2. Albany Township, Stearns County: Tafoya 87.7%, Flanagan 10.8%
3. Krain Township, Stearns County: Tafoya 85.7%, Flanagan 10.6%
4. Farming Township, Stearns County: Tafoya 85.5%, Flanagan 13.6%
5. May Township, Cass County: Tafoya 83.7%, Flanagan 12.7%
6. Millwood Township, Stearns County: Tafoya 81.7%, Flanagan 15.3%
7. Edgerton, Pipestone County: Tafoya 82.1%, Flanagan 16.1%
8. Mayhew Lake Township, Benton County: Tafoya 81.6%, Flanagan 15.9%
9. Holding Township, Stearns County: Tafoya 80.7%, Flanagan 15.6%
10. St. George Township, Benton County: Tafoya 81.3%, Flanagan 16.6%

Most Democratic places in Minnesota

1. Minneapolis, Hennepin County: Flanagan 88.9%, Tafoya 9.2%
2. St. Paul, Ramsey County: Flanagan 83.5%, Tafoya 14.0%
3. Falcon Heights, Ramsey County: Flanagan 82.9%, Tafoya 15.3%
4. Lauderdale, Ramsey County: Flanagan 81.2%, Tafoya 16.6%
5. Grand Marais, Cook County: Flanagan 77.3%, Tafoya 19.6%
6. Robbinsdale, Hennepin County: Flanagan 77.0%, Tafoya 20.5%
7. St. Louis Park, Hennepin County: Flanagan 77.1%, Tafoya 20.7%
8. Columbia Heights, Anoka County: Flanagan 76.5%, Tafoya 20.4%
9. St. Anthony, Hennepin and Ramsey counties: Flanagan 76.1%, Tafoya 21.2%
10. Brooklyn Center, Hennepin County: Flanagan 75.5%, Tafoya 21.2%

Places were ranked by the gap between Tafoya's and Flanagan's shares of the vote. Independent candidate Marisa Simonetti, Libertarian Rebecca Whiting and write-in candidates combined for about 2.7 percent of the vote statewide.

Statewide, Flanagan received 1,520,908 votes to Tafoya's 1,233,466, according to the unofficial count.

The results are not final. Under state law, the State Canvassing Board meets on the 16th day after the election, Nov. 19, to certify the results.