Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party


The Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party is a political party in the U.S. state of Minnesota affiliated with the national Democratic Party. The party was formed by a merger between the Minnesota Democratic Party and the Minnesota Farmer–Labor Party in 1944. The DFL is one of two state Democratic Party affiliates with a different name from that of the national party, the other being the neighboring North Dakota Democratic–Nonpartisan League Party.
The DFL controls four of Minnesota's eight United States House of Representatives seats, both of its United States Senate seats, the Minnesota Senate, and all other statewide offices, including the Governor of Minnesota, making it the dominant party in the state. In the Minnesota House of Representatives, it has a power-sharing agreement with its main political rival, the Republican Party of Minnesota, following a tie in the 2024 Minnesota House of Representatives election.

History

Background

The Nonpartisan League, founded in North Dakota in 1915 was an agrarian party focused on farmer grievances against corporate monopolies. It expanded to Minnesota in 1917 and in 1918 it merged with the Duluth Union Labor Party to create the Farmer–Labor Party.
During the 1930s, the FLP gained support for radical platforms aimed at addressing economic and social inequalities. The party won the 1930 gubernatorial election under Floyd B. Olson. During this decade, Democrats had minimal success in the state, as the FLP effectively captured the left-wing vote and drew support away from urban workers, rural farmers, and immigrants. The party often won only single digits in statewide races as the FLP aligned informally with Roosevelt's New Deal coalition.
By 1938, the Farmer–Labor party's influence waned because of internal conflicts and accusations of incompetence and corruption, leading to a loss in that year's gubernatorial election. The party suffered further setbacks in 1940 and 1942, losing congressional seats and the gubernatorial race.

Establishment

On April 15, 1944, the Farmer–Labor Party merged with the Minnesota Democratic Party, forming the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party. Leading the merger effort were Elmer Kelm, the head of the Minnesota Democratic Party and the founding chairman of the DFL; Elmer Benson, effectively the head of the Farmer–Labor Party by virtue of his leadership of its dominant left-wing faction; and rising star Hubert H. Humphrey, who chaired the Fusion Committee that accomplished the union and then went on to chair its first state convention. This merger marked a pivotal shift influenced by academic liberals at the University of Minnesota who advocated for integrating the New Deal's progressive reforms within a more centralized, managerial political framework, transitioning from the movement-oriented politics of the Farmer-Labor party to a structure that emphasized interest-group pluralism.

Since establishment

During the post-war years, the DFL confronted various social issues, including antisemitism, which reflected broader national conversations about race and ethnicity. The DFL also navigated with its stance on civil rights and economic justice, influenced significantly by Minnesota's small but politically active African American communities. In early 1946, as a Fair Employment Practice bill was moving through Congress, there was a surge of civil rights activism in the Twin Cities.
Factional battles were intensified by differing views on how to address the left-wing influence within the party, with significant conflicts between proponents of Henry A. Wallace's progressive policies and the more moderate wing led by figures like Hubert Humphrey. By the party's second convention in 1946, tensions had re-emerged between members of the two former parties. While the majority of delegates supported left-wing policies, Humphrey managed to install a more conservative, anti-communist ally, Orville Freeman, as party secretary. Some disaffected Farmer–Labor leaders such as Benson moved to the Progressive Party. Freeman was elected the state's first DFL governor in 1954. Important members of the party have included Humphrey and Walter Mondale, who each went on to be United States senators, vice presidents of the United States, and unsuccessful Democratic nominees for president; Eugene McCarthy, a U.S. senator who ran for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1968 as an anti-Vietnam War candidate; Paul Wellstone, a U.S. senator from 1991 to 2002 who became an icon of populist progressivism; Amy Klobuchar, a U.S. senator who ran for the Democratic nomination for president in 2020; Dean Phillips, a U.S. representative who ran for the Democratic nomination for president in 2024; and Tim Walz, two-term governor chosen as Kamala Harris' running mate in the 2024 presidential election. The DFL has had varied success beginning in the late 1970s and through the late 2010s, in part due to the growth of single-issue splinter groups after reforms brought by the national party.
Following the 2022 Minnesota elections, the DFL became the dominant party in the state, retaining every executive office, winning majorities in the state House and Senate, and re-electing all incumbent congressional representatives. With their newly elected trifecta, the DFL pursued a progressive agenda in their first legislative session. Governor Tim Walz described the session as "the most successful legislative session, certainly in many of our lifetimes and maybe in Minnesota history." The newly elected government passed large expansions in welfare programs and spending. Notable policies passed include the expansion of abortion rights, new programs to provide reproductive healthcare, protection of gender affirming care, the legalization of recreational cannabis, indexing education spending to inflation, investments in public transit, and paid sick leave for Minnesota workers. Former president Barack Obama praised the state government's actions, saying that "Minnesota has made progress on a whole host of issues – from protecting abortion rights and new gun safety measures to expanding access to the ballot and reducing child poverty. These laws will make a real difference in the lives of Minnesotans."

Party organization

The DFL is governed by a state central committee, which is composed of representatives from each of the state's congressional districts. The state central committee is responsible for setting the party's platform, electing party officers, and conducting other party business. The DFL also has a constitution and bylaws that govern its operations.

Community caucuses

The party operates several community caucuses that organize and represent different communities within Minnesota; they are not defined geographically. These include the:
The DFL's base of support is diverse, and it includes urban and suburban voters, working class voters, labor unions, environmentalists, and other progressive groups. The party has a strong presence in the Twin Cities metropolitan area. The DFL has lost support in traditional DFL strongholds such as the Iron Range since 2016.

Current elected officials

Members of Congress

U.S. Senate

Out of the eight seats Minnesota is apportioned in the U.S. House of Representatives, four are held by members of the DFL.

Current

  • Chair: Richard Carlbom
  • Vice chair: Marge Hoffa
  • Second vice chair: Shivanthi Sathanandan
  • Treasurer: Lindy Sowmick
  • Secretary: Ceri Everett
  • Outreach officer: Quentin Wathum-Ocama

    Historical party chairs

Through 1975, the party's constitution called for the election of a separate chairman and chairwoman to head state party activities. Only the chairman received compensation. In the mid-1970s, the party voted to change the titles of the chief party offices to chair and associate chair, specifying that they must both be salaried and must be of the opposite sex.