Horowitz: Minnesota as a left-wing Mecca, Disney subversion, and why red states aren’t red

There’s a reason the media is suddenly focusing on the success of Minnesota Democrats in creating a transhumanist, left-wing hell on earth. It’s because in every other blue state, they immediately floored the gas pedal on policy years ago upon winning trifecta control of state government. Minnesota, with the flipping of the state Senate, provided the Democrats with a new trifecta, and they have essentially turned it into California in just one legislative session. Why don’t the 25 or so GOP supermajority states behave like a mirror image of Minnesota?

Democrats are unified, strategic, unrelenting, and radical in every state

In an article titled, “How Minnesota is becoming a laboratory in pushing progressive policy,” NBC’s Adam Edelman celebrates how the North Star state has become a north star for the radical left immediately after Democrats won control of all three branches. Given the historic GOP control of the Senate, one would think Democrats would tip-toe into left-wing policy so as not to risk losing control of the chamber next session. But Democrats are true believers. In just one session, they are passing abortion at all stages, transgenderism, driver’s licenses for illegals, automatic voter registration, felons voting, and a ban on normal cars by 2040.

To top it off, they just passed a bill that will allow child protective services to remove parental rights if a parent interferes with a child’s demand for castration. They didn’t lose a single Democrat vote.

The beauty of the Democrat success is that this is not a state like Massachusetts, where they have enjoyed trifecta supermajorities for decades and will continue to do so indefinitely. They only hold a three-seat majority in the House and just flipped the historically GOP-controlled Senate by a single vote. Yet no matter how radical the proposed ideas from the governor are, there never seems to be any risk of losing a single Democrat vote.

This raises the obvious question: Why don’t we see the same dynamic unfold in all the states where the GOP holds much greater majorities in the legislature? Although Florida is probably the best example of the GOP flooring the gas pedal on legislation, DeSantis is still forced to water down some ideas thanks to the plethora of RINOs in GOP leadership. Most other GOP states have Republican majorities that continue to support pro-criminal policies, illegal aliens, the sexual alphabet soup agenda, endless welfare spending, and vaccine mandates – to varying degrees. Wyoming is a perfect example.

We’re not even expecting a right-wing mirror image of Minnesota. We can’t even find red states fully committed to ridding themselves of progressive policies. The few victories we achieve are on issues that Barack Obama would have agreed with in 2008 — or even campaigned on.

Minnesota Democrat Governor Tim Walz enjoys a razor-thin 34-33 majority in the Senate and a 70-64 majority in the House. Now take a look at the size of the GOP majority in the following states:

• Alabama: Senate 27-8; House 77-28
• Arkansas: Senate 29-6; House 82-18
• Florida: Senate 28-12; House 85-35
• Georgia: Senate 33-23; House 101-78
• Idaho: Senate 28-7; House 59-11
• Indiana: Senate 40-10; House 70-30
• Iowa: Senate 34-16; House 64-36
• Kansas: Senate 29-11; House 85-40
• Kentucky: Senate 31-7 House 80-20
• Louisiana: Senate 27-12; House 70-33-2
• Mississippi: Senate 36-15; House 77-41-3
• Missouri: Senate 24-10; House 111-51
• Montana: Senate 34-16; House 68-32
• Nebraska: Senate (unicameral) 32-17
• North Carolina: Senate 30-20 ; House 72-48
• North Dakota: Senate 43-4; House 82-12
• Ohio: Senate 26-7; House 67-32
• Oklahoma: Senate 40-8; House 81-20
• South Carolina: Senate 30-15; House 88-36
• South Dakota: Senate 31-4; House 63-7
• Tennessee: Senate 27-6; House 74-24
• Texas: Senate 19-12; House 86-64
• Utah: Senate 23-6; House 61-14
• West Virginia: Senate 31-3; House 88-12
• Wyoming: Senate; 29-2; House 57-5

As you can see, not only can the GOP afford to lose a number of votes and still pass amazing legislation, in some states there aren’t even enough Democrats to populate all the committees! Yet as Tim Walz passes everything he wants with a single-seat majority, where do you see the GOP flooring the gas pedal on uprooting left-wing policies from the state, much less pursuing hard-core conservative ones that make the state government a force for cultural conservatism? Aside from guns and abortion, there is not a single state that is anywhere near as red as even swing states are blue the minute Democrats win control.

Why is there no GOP Minnesota or Colorado?

Colorado and Virginia (before it swung back) were perfect examples of how Democrats have the same success in swing or light blue states as they do in Hawaii and Vermont. Contrast that to Ohio, which used to be a swing state and then became very Republican. With supermajorities, we couldn’t even elect a conservative speaker because a group of Republicans cut a deal with Democrats to elect a speaker who would jettison the most commonsense ideas on medical freedom and gender sanity.

The answer lies in the fact that it’s not just a handful of ideological left-wing Republicans who sabotage GOP supermajorities. It is most of the GOP governors, speakers, majority leaders, Senate presidents, and committee chairs. The core of the party is not oriented toward the values of the majority of the red-state voters like the Democrat leadership is toward the values of the socialist base. And there is a reason for that. It has a lot to do with the Disney equivalent of every red state.

Sure, many of these GOP legislators might personally go to Bible study, believe in our values, and genuinely run for office motivated by some of the same issues that animate the base voters (although some don’t). However, once they get to the state capital, they rapidly realize that those who control the state are not Republicans but the largest employers in the state. In most states it is the health care cartel. But in states like Arkansas, it is Walmart, Tyson, and J.B. Hunt. Either way, they overpower the values of the state with the same gutter ideology pushed by the special interests in blue states.

If you want to know why most red states quietly want illegal immigration, look to the ag lobby and the Chamber of Commerce. If you want to know why most states have failed to fully fight the transgender jihad and medical mandates, it is corporations like Sanford Health that control the Dakotas. Why do you think Kristi Noem betrayed her base on the female sports issue, which is a layup and a no-brainer with the public? Do you think she is a closet leftist with a rainbow flag in her house? I doubt it. It’s because her staff, donors, lobbyists, and associates are all beholden to the big corporations like Sanford Health.

This is why the DeSantis fight against Disney is so important. In fact, it is more important than he or anyone else running for president. If every other governor would not only decline to capitulate to woke corporations but actively fight them, red states would actually be as red as blue states are blue. This dynamic would largely make the presidential race irrelevant to our lives because we could live in accordance with our values in half the country. However, sadly, that is not the case.

This is why former Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson piled on DeSantis. He was completely owned by Walmart and Tyson when he was governor, which is why he defied the supermajority of his voters and supported castration for minors and COVID fascism. DeSantis is the first red-state governor in modern times to signal that no policy will be dictated by these corporations and that he is willing – in fact relishes the opportunity – to lose their support in return for making the state red.

This is why it is so appalling that Trump, McCarthy, Rubio, and nearly every Republican piled on DeSantis. The Disney fight is the linchpin to ensuring that red states are actually meaningfully red, aside from policies pertaining to one or two legacy issues. When Trump was attacked by Alvin Bragg, every conservative commentator spent two weeks on the issue, noting that this was an “all hands on deck” moment for unity and clarity. They were right. But so is this fight against Disney and large woke employers that essentially make red states pro-gun and lower-tax versions of blue states on the issues that matter at the time they actually matter.

It is pathetic that conservative media has failed to hold Trump accountable for siding with Disney. This is about so much more than who will be the GOP presidential nominee or about the presidency at all, for that matter. This is about why we can’t have nice things even in 70-30 or 80-20 Trump majority areas in the country.

Jeff Blodgett, a Democratic strategist based in St. Paul, noted that “states really are these places where policy can happen, can be copied by other states and then ... go national. And right now, Minnesota is the model for that.” At the same time, Politico recently observed that “Republicans already dominate state legislatures but the scope of their power has reached a new level.” But unlike in the smaller number of Democrat supermajorities (or even simple majorities), there is too much “infighting,” for instance, when Gov. Doug Burgum vetoed simple legislation requiring the use of normal pronouns in schools.

Perhaps dumping on the one man who is actually trying to deliver nice things for us as Democrats do in their states is the reason there will be more incentives going forward for Republicans governors to act more like Doug Burgum than Ron DeSantis. Or perhaps only one side is actually interested in outcomes while, the other side is content with levity and entertainment.