4 October 2024
It’s been nearly a week since MinnPost Festival and I’m still reflecting on what a fun day it was, full of insightful conversations about Minnesota’s future and the upcoming election.
One of the reasons I love MinnPost Festival — and our MinnPost Socials — is that it brings people together to talk about issues that matter to everyday Minnesotans and allows attendees to connect with our reporters as well as local and state policy makers and hear directly from them on a wide range of issues.
MinnPost’s guide to the 2024 election ►
I always enjoy meeting with MinnPost readers and learning more in-depth about what issues they care about and how MinnPost can better serve readers through our reporting and newsletters. Which is why we decided to do some very unscientific, unofficial polling at this year’s festival using plastic jars, pom poms and sticky notes.
Using these tools, we asked attendees several questions about the upcoming election to better understand not only what is driving voters, but whether geography impacted the answers. Minneapolis and St. Paul residents answered using the purple pom poms, Twin Cities suburban residents answered using yellow, Greater Minnesota residents answered using green, and out of state residents used orange.
What issues are driving you to vote?
One thing many participants told me is that it was difficult to narrow their answer down to just one jar as there were many issues driving them to vote. So, they placed their pom poms into several jars that resonated with them.
The top two driving MinnPost readers to the polls this November are climate change (94) and reproductive health (89). Education (52) came in third, followed by public safety (28), LGBTQ+ issues (23), jobs and employment (21), cost of living (19) and taxes (12).
We also allowed attendees to write in their own answers.
The other jar included: Israel’s war in Gaza (2), racial equity, the Equal Rights Amendment, housing, economic equity, judicial appointments, democracy and fear.
What is most at stake this election?
Regardless of geography, there was one clear answer to what attendees felt was most at stake this election: democracy.
Related to that answer, some participants cited America’s reputation, human rights, individual rights, partisan division, normal government function and more that you can read about below.
How do you feel about the future of Minnesota?
On the future of Minnesota, participants were generally optimistic with a few answers sitting somewhere in the neutral area. It’s worth noting that most of the participants in this question came from Minneapolis, St. Paul or the suburbs with only one answer hailing from Greater Minnesota.
Last year, we asked participants about the future of Minneapolis specifically and received a more varied response.
While these informal poll results are interesting, they are not meant to reflect these communities entirely. Rather, they provide our newsroom with a snapshot of how MinnPost readers think about a variety of issues and inspire further discussion both in-person and through MinnPost’s official channels.
Want to share your responses to these questions? Feel free to reach out at [email protected].
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