Norm Coleman

Norm Coleman

Norman Bertram "Norm" Coleman Jr. (born August 17, 1949) is a former United States senator from Minnesota pending the outcome of litigation to resolve the recount of the 2008 election. Coleman was elected in 2002, serving in the 108th, 109th, and 110th Congresses. He also served as the mayor of Saint Paul, Minnesota, from 1994 to 2002. Previously a member of the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party (DFL), Coleman switched to the Republican Party in 1996.

Coleman's 2008 re-election bid, in which he was challenged by Democrat Al Franken, is still in dispute. Although Coleman initially led Franken after the election, the margin of his lead was insufficient to avoid a mandatory recount. Following the recount, Franken was certified on January 5, 2009 by the Minnesota State Canvassing Board with 225 votes more than Coleman. The State of Minnesota has not yet issued a certificate of election concerning the race. Coleman's campaign filed an election contest on January 6 attempting to overturn the recount. Coleman's term in office officially ended on January 3, 2009. On January 15, the Senate unanimously approved a resolution authorizing Coleman and his staff access to his former Senate office space until February 4, 2009, for the purposes of archiving and transfering case files on constituent services to other Minnesota representatives. Coleman is currently working as an adviser to the Republican Jewish Coalition.

Coleman was born in New York to Beverly and Norman Bertram Coleman, Sr. He was a graduate of James Madison High School in. Brooklyn and Hofstra University on Long Island. New York Senator Chuck Schumer, a Democrat, attended high school with Coleman; Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders and Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg are both graduates of the same high school. During his time at college, Coleman was an active member of the 1960s counterculture, he celebrated his 20th birthday at the Woodstock Festival, and was allegedly a marijuana user.

Coleman attended Brooklyn Law School from 1972 until 1974 but later received his Juris Doctor from the University of Iowa College of Law. After receiving his law degree in 1976, Coleman began working as a prosecutor in the Minnesota Attorney General's office. Coleman worked for the Minnesota Attorney General until he was elected mayor of St. Paul, eventually working his way up to chief prosecutor and solicitor general.

Coleman is married to Laurie Coleman (née Casserly), an actress. They have two children, Jacob and Sarah. Two other children died during infancy (Adam, 1983; Grace, 1992) from a rare genetic disorder known as Zellweger syndrome.

Coleman is also a Freemason, having been made a Mason at sight in 2003 by then Grand Master of Masons in Minnesota, Neil Neddermeyer.

In 1993, Coleman was elected mayor of St. Paul as a Democrat. Coleman had also run for mayor in 1989, but he dropped out when Jim Scheibel won the DFL endorsement. In 1996, he joined the Republican Party and was reelected in 1997 as a Republican, beating DFL nominee State Senator Sandy Pappas.

Norm Coleman's most well-known accomplishment as mayor of Saint Paul was bringing professional hockey back to Minnesota. In 1993, the Minnesota North Stars moved to Dallas, Texas. The loss of their National Hockey League franchise was particularly tough on local sports fans since many felt that Minnesota was the hockey capital of the United States. Coleman played to these feelings as well as the sibling rivalry between Saint Paul and Minneapolis in his efforts. Several attempts to lure existing NHL teams to play at the Civic Center Arena failed. On June 7, 1997 the NHL awarded Saint Paul an expansion franchise, later named the Minnesota Wild, that would play a new arena in downtown at the site of Civic Center Arena. The new arena, later named the Xcel Energy Center, was built with $65 million of funding from the state and $30 million from the city of Saint Paul. Later as Senator Coleman was instrumental in bringing the 2008 Republican National Convention to the Xcel Center.

After succeeding in bringing professional hockey to Saint Paul, Coleman also attempted to bring Major League Baseball. Coleman made several attempts to get the Minnesota Twins to move from Minneapolis. The closest these attempts came to success was in 1999 when Saint Paul voters rejected a referendum that would have authorized a 0.5 % sale tax in the city to pay for building the Twins a stadium in downtown Saint Paul. In 2006 plans were finalized to build the Twins a new stadium, later named Target Field in downtown Minneapolis.

Coleman's efforts at lobbying for the hockey team and arena raised his profile around the state and helped him make contacts that would help him in his later statewide runs for office. In 1998 while serving as Mayor he lost a bid for Governor of Minnesota against former professional wrestler Jesse Ventura, a member of the Reform Party of Minnesota, and Democratic Farmer Labor candidate Hubert H. "Skip" Humphrey III.

Coleman had made plans for a second run for governor in 2002, but was persuaded by Karl Rove and George W. Bush to run against incumbent Senator Paul Wellstone in that year's Senate election. The White House was determined to unseat Wellstone, and felt Coleman, with his popularity in heavily Democratic St. Paul, offered the best chance of doing so. Coleman easily won the Republican nomination.

Coleman and Wellstone were neck-and-neck in most polls for most of the campaign. Wellstone died in a plane crash on October 25, 2002. The Democrats named former Vice President Walter Mondale to replace Wellstone on the ballot. Mondale had held the same Senate seat from 1964 to 1977.

Coleman narrowly defeated Mondale in the election, winning by just over 61,000 votes out of over 2 million statewide. It is generally believed that Mondale—and indeed the entire DFL ticket—was hampered by voter anger over the atmosphere at Wellstone's memorial service, at which Governor Jesse Ventura and Senator Trent Lott were booed. Coleman succeeded Dean Barkley, who had been appointed by Ventura to serve the remaining two months of Wellstone's term.

In April 2003, Coleman told a Capitol Hill reporter that he was a "99% improvement" over Wellstone because he had a better working relationship with the White House. Many supporters of Wellstone were offended and felt that this was deeply insulting, and at least one member of Congress urged Coleman to apologize. In 2004 Coleman campaigned for the chairmanship of the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC), but was narrowly defeated for the post by North Carolina Senator Elizabeth Dole in a 28-27 vote.

The initial results of the 2008 November 4 election, as certified by the State Canvassing Board, showed that Coleman held a narrow lead of 215 votes over former Air America host and comedian Al Franken of the DFL out of almost 2.9 million votes cast, with a 15 percent showing by Independence Party candidate Dean Barkley. On November 5, Coleman claimed victory in the race. However, Minnesota law requires an automatic recount of the votes because of such a narrow margin.. On December 24, 2008, after losing a unanimous decision at the hands of the Minnesota Supreme Court, Coleman's lawyers stated that it was now a "virtual certainty" that Coleman would contest the results of the election.

On January 5, 2009, Franken was certified as the winner of the recount by 225 votes. Coleman filed a legal challenge of the results. on January 6 , and a three-judge panel was seated. Coleman's term officially expired on January 3, 2009.. On February 3, 2009, the three-judge panel allowed him to introduce evidence to be considered in the recount trial that as many as 4,800 absentee ballots were wrongly rejected and should now be counted. The Franken campaign had tried to limit Coleman to bringing evidence on only 650 absentee ballots cited in the initial court filing.

With the outcome of the election still in doubt, Coleman took a position as an adviser to the Republican Jewish Coalition, a conservative, pro-Israel lobbying group. Coleman spokesperson Mark Drake said that Coleman's acceptance of the position was not a signal that he expected to lose in his bid to ultimately win the election.

I am a lifelong Democrat. Some accuse me of being the fiscal conservative in this race — I plead guilty! I'm not afraid to be tight with your tax dollars. Yet, my fiscal conservatism does not mean I am any less progressive in my Democratic ideals. From Bobby Kennedy to George McGovern to Warren Spannaus to Hubert Humphrey to Walter Mondale — my commitment to the great values of our party has remained solid.

In December 1996, Coleman announced he was leaving the DFL party to join the Republican Party. He cited his frustrations with the Democratic Party and his belief that the Republican Party offered the best chance to continue his efforts to hold the line on taxes and grow jobs.

Coleman was re-elected in 1997, with nearly 60% of the vote.

Ironically, prior to becoming a Republican and running against him in 2002, Coleman chaired Wellstone's Senate re-election campaign in 1996. While making the Wellstone nomination speech at the 1996 state DFL convention, Coleman stated: "Paul Wellstone is a Democrat, and I am a Democrat." At this point in time, tensions were so high between Coleman and the DFL party that a number of delegates at the convention were loudly booing Coleman's speech.

Coleman is a member of the Republican Main Street Partnership. In March 2007, National Journal ranked Coleman the fourth most liberal Republican in the Senate. GovTrack, an independent tracking website, also describes Coleman as a "moderate Republican" based on their own bill analysis.

In September 2008, Coleman joined the bipartisan Gang of 20, which is seeking a bipartisan solution to the American energy crisis. The group is pushing for a bill that would encourage state-by-state decisions on offshore drilling and authorize billions of dollars for conservation and alternative energy.

He received a 14% progressive rating from Progressive Punch And he scored a 73% conservative rating by the conservative group, SBE Council. In contrast, Minnesota's other senator at the time, Democrat Mark Dayton, received a score of 90% progressive and 9% conservative by the same groups.

On December 11, 2005, Coleman voted in favor of invoking cloture on, thus advancing, a defense appropriations bill that included oil exploration in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) after having pledged in 2002 to oppose such drilling. He stated that he did so because although he planned to vote against the bill, he did not believe that a filibuster was warranted. In spite of this, many environmental advocacy groups (most notably the Sierra Club) viewed his vote as a betrayal of his promise. His vote notwithstanding, the filibuster held, and Coleman voted to strip the ANWR provision from the bill in a subsequent vote. Sen. Coleman received a score of 33% for 2007 from the League of Conservation Voters, in their view taking the pro-environment position in just five of fourteen cases.

Coleman has campaigned as a pro-life candidate since at least 1993. Coleman attributes his position on abortion to the death of two of his four children in infancy from a rare genetic disease. He supports limiting stem cell research to adult stem cells and stem cells derived from umbilical cord blood, and, in July 2006, he voted against lifting restrictions on federal research dollars for new embryonic stem cell lines. Senator Coleman is a member of the Republican Main Street Partnership a group which supports Embryonic Stem Cell Research. Senator Coleman voted in favor of legislative intervention to prolong the life of severely brain-damaged Floridian Terri Schiavo.

Coleman opposes recognition of same-sex marriages by either the federal or state governments. In his 2002 Senate campaign, Coleman pledged support for an amendment to the United States Constitution that would ban any state from issuing marriage licenses to people of the same sex. In 2004 and in June 2006, he voted in favor of such an amendment.

When he was mayor, Coleman refused to sign a city proclamation celebrating the annual gay pride festival, explaining his opposition: "What we have had in St. Paul and Minneapolis for many years is signing a joint proclamation making it gay/lesbian/bisexual/transgender month. I will say that I support human rights... And of course that includes sexual orientation. On the other hand, I've felt very strongly that it wasn't government's responsibility to give proclamations for people's sexuality. I don't think government has a responsibility to issue awards for one's sexuality." Coleman hired transgendered Susan Kimberly, formerly Robert Sylvester, to be his deputy mayor in 1998. Kimberly also worked as Coleman’s Minnesota Senate Office as State Director.

In 2002, the Bush Administration persuaded Coleman to run against Wellstone rather than try for the governorship.

On March 14, 2006, Coleman called on President Bush to replace or reorganize his staff, stating that they did not sufficiently have their "ears to the ground" on matters like Hurricane Katrina, Harriet Miers' failed Supreme Court nomination, and the Dubai Ports World controversy and accusing the administration of having a "tin ear." He stated that they showed inadequate "political sensitivity" in their handling of the issues.

On January 22, 2007, Coleman, along with fellow Republican Senators John Warner and Susan Collins, joined Democrats in opposition to President Bush's planned troop increase in Iraq.

Coleman expressed reservations about supporting CAFTA (Central American Free Trade Agreement) unless the interests of the domestic U.S. sugar industry (including Minnesota's sugar beet industry) were accommodated. He voted in favor of CAFTA after obtaining quotas imposed on foreign sugar until 2008. He stood behind President Bush on August 2, 2005, as the trade agreement was signed into law. "This is a 3 year insurance policy that I have purchased for my sugar farmers..." he said.

Coleman supports allowing workers to divert a portion of their Social Security contributions to the creation of individual accounts to be invested in the stock market, a variation of a general plan referred to by supporters as "personal accounts," referred to historically as "privatization." He agrees with President Bush's statements that the contribution changes would apply to those younger than 55. "The Social Security system for those folks 55 and over will not change in any way, shape or form — no ifs, ands, or buts," he said.

In May 2005, the Senate's Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, chaired by Coleman, held hearings on their investigation of abuses of the UN Oil-for-Food program, including oil smuggling, illegal kickbacks and use of surcharges, and Saddam Hussein's use of oil vouchers for the purpose of buying influence abroad. These Oil-for-Food Program Hearings covered corporations (including Bayoil) and several well-known political figures of various nations (including Vladimir Zhironovsky), but are much remembered for the confrontational appearance of British Member of Parliament George Galloway, a member of the RESPECT The Unity Coalition (Respect), a then-new British political party. Coleman accused Galloway of abuses, which Galloway denied. The previous year, Coleman had called for the UN's Secretary-general Kofi Annan to resign for other alleged program abuses. On June 2, 2006, Coleman responded to criticism that he had insufficiently investigated the Australian Wheat Board (AWB) for sanctions busting, saying that there were legal and cost hurdles. The Prime Minister of Australia at the time, John Howard, was a supporter of the invasion of Iraq. The Australian ambassador to the U.S., Michael Thawley, met with Coleman in late 2004 to lobby against any investigation of AWB.

On February 10, 2006, in a meeting of the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs of which Coleman is a member, during testimony of former FEMA director Michael D. Brown, Coleman attacked Brown for poor leadership during Hurricane Katrina disaster relief efforts, "you didn't provide the leadership, even with structural infirmities." Coleman went on, "you're not prepared to kind of put a mirror in front of your face and recognize your own inadequacies" and "the record reflects that you didn't get it or you didn't in writing or in some way make commands that would move people to do what has to be done until way after it should have been done." Brown responded combatively, "well, Senator, that's very easy for you to say sitting behind that dais and not being there in the middle of that disaster, watching that human suffering and watching those people dying and trying to deal with those structural dysfunctionalities" and implored Coleman to stick to questions. He later likened Coleman's charges to a "drive-by shooting." Brown had recently stated that he notified Department of Homeland Security and the White House of the tremendous scale of Katrina flooding earlier than had been previously reported.

On March 14, 2006, Coleman introduced a bill that would ban foreign companies from operating ports in the United States and most of Canada. (S.2410, 3/14/2006: A bill to amend the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to limit foreign control of investments in certain United States critical infrastructure).

In March 2007, Coleman introduced legislation (S. 754) to kill the Defense Travel System, a program intended to automate the purchasing of travel services by the U.S. Department of Defense, which accounts for more than half of the federal government's total outlays of around $11 billion annually for travel, including transportation, lodging, and rental cars. Shortly after he filed the legislation, Coleman received a generous contribution from the CEO of The Carlson Companies, which owns Carlson Wagonlit Travel, a business travel management firm whose CW Government Travel unit provides travel management services for some federal agencies. The Carlson Companies is based in Minnesota. Over the years, Coleman has received tens of thousands of dollars in campaign donations from people connected with The Carlson Companies.

In late October, 2008, Coleman was listed as a beneficiary of ethically suspect activity in a lawsuit filed in Texas by Paul McKim, CEO of Deep Marine Technologies (DMT) against Nasser Kazeminy. Kazeminy is a longtime supporter of Coleman and owner of a controlling share of DMT. . The petition alleges that Kazeminy used DMT to funnel $75,000 or more to Coleman's wife Laurie through her employer, Hays Companies, in order to enrich Senator Coleman. Exhibits filed with the petition show what appear to be multiple Hays invoices for services to DMT in amounts of $25,000 each. McKim states that Kazeminy threatened to fire McKim if he did not go along with the scheme. McKim's petition covers several issues, of which the Coleman matter is only one. Neither Coleman nor his wife are named as defendants in the suit.

On Friday, October 31, a related suit was filed in Delaware Chancery Court by minority shareholders in DMT. The Delaware suit also alleges that DMT was used as a conduit for unearned funds to Laurie Coleman through Hays Companies, at the behest of Kazeminy. As in the Texas case, the Colemans are not named as defendants.

Coleman responded with a campaign ad in which he denied the allegations and blamed them on his opponent in the 2008 senate race, Democrat Al Franken.

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Political positions of Norm Coleman

The political positions of Norm Coleman have changed dramatically over his career. Originally a Democrat and an anti-war activist as a university student during the Vietnam War, Coleman has since switched parties and is now generally considered a moderate Republican.

On social issues, Coleman is largely conservative, opposing abortion, same-sex marriage, and the use of embryonic stem cells. On foreign policy and security, Coleman supported the U.S.-led 2003 invasion of Iraq and continues to support the Iraq War and the War on Terror. He also generally favors stronger domestic security over civil liberty concerns. Fiscally, Coleman has supported greater federal spending than more conservative Republicans.

Coleman has voted inline with the Republican Party approximately 85% of the time.

In February 2008, Coleman voted in favor of the Economic Stimulus Act of 2008.

Citizens Against Government Waste has given Coleman a lifetime rating of 38%. The Club for Growth gave him a 33% "RePORK Card" rating for the year of 2007. Both scores denote a generally weak stance towards fighting pork barrel spending.

Senator Coleman expressed reservations about supporting CAFTA (Central American Free Trade Agreement) unless the interests of the domestic U.S. sugar industry (including Minnesota's sugar beet industry) were accommodated.

He voted in favor of CAFTA after obtaining quotas imposed on foreign sugar until 2008. He stood behind President Bush on August 2, 2005, as the trade agreement was signed into law. "This is a 3 year insurance policy that I have purchased for my sugar farmers..." he said.

On December 11, 2005 Senator Coleman voted in favor of invoking cloture on, thus advancing, a defense appropriations bill that included oil exploration in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) after having pledged in 2002 to oppose such drilling. He stated that he did so because although he planned to vote against the bill, he didn't believe that a filibuster was warranted. In spite of this, many environmental advocacy groups (most notably the Sierra Club) viewed his vote as a betrayal of his promise. His vote notwithstanding, the filibuster held, and Coleman voted to strip the ANWR provision from the bill in a subsequent vote. Sen. Coleman received a score of 33% for 2007 from the League of Conservation Voters, in their view taking the pro-environment position in just five of fourteen cases.

Coleman supported the U.S.-led 2003 invasion of Iraq, saying at the time, "Saddam is a menace. His menace grows with each passing day. History will judge us harshly if knowing what we know, we fail to act with bipartisan solidarity to prevent the death of hundreds of thousands." Since then, Coleman has repeatedly voted against setting a timetable for withdrawing U.S. troops from Iraq.

On January 22, 2007 Coleman, along with fellow Republican Senators John Warner and Susan Collins, joined the bipartisan opposition to President Bush's Iraq War troop surge of 2007.

On September 26, 2007, Coleman voted to designate Iran's Quds Force as a terrorist organization.

In 2008, Coleman agreed that waterboarding was a form of torture, but opposed a measure that would have outlawed its use by the CIA. The specific legislation would have limited the CIA to interrogation techniques outlined in the Army Field Manual.

Senator Coleman has campaigned as a pro-life candidate since at least 1993. In 2006, Coleman was given a 0% rating by NARAL Pro-Choice America and a 100% rating by the National Right to Life Committee indicating a strong pro-life voting record. Coleman attributes his position on abortion to the death of two of his four children in infancy from a rare genetic disease. He supports limiting stem cell research to adult stem cells and stem cells derived from umbilical cord blood, and, in July 2006, he voted against lifting restrictions on federal research dollars for new embryonic stem cell lines. Senator Coleman voted in favor of intervention in the Terri Schiavo case.

Coleman opposes recognition of same-sex marriages by either the federal or state governments. In his 2002 Senate campaign, Coleman pledged support a amendment to the United States Constitution that would ban any state from recognizing same-sex marriage. In 2004 and in June 2006, he voted in favour of such an amendment.

When he was mayor, Coleman refused to sign a city proclamation celebrating the annual gay pride festival, explaining his opposition: "What we have had in St. Paul and Minneapolis for many years is signing a joint proclamation making it gay/lesbian/bisexual/transgender month. I will say that I support human rights... And of course that includes sexual orientation. On the other hand, I've felt very strongly that is wasn't government's responsibility to give proclamations for people's sexuality. I don't think government has a responsibility to issue awards for one's sexuality." Accordingly, Coleman hired transgendered Susan Kimberly, formerly Robert Sylvester, to be his deputy mayor in 1998. Kimberly also worked as Coleman’s Minnesota Senate Office as State Director.

Coleman voted in favor of the Secure Fence Act of 2006 to extend the the border fence along the United States–Mexico border.

For the years of 2005-2006, Coleman was given a 17% rating by the American Civil Liberties Union indicating a weak civil liberties record (by the ACLU's definitions).

Coleman supported the REAL ID Act. He also voted in favor of the Military Commissions Act of 2006 which, among other things, suspended habeas corpus for "unlawful enemy combatants" detained by the U.S. In 2007, he co-sponsored the Violent Radicalization and Homegrown Terrorism Prevention Act of 2007. He also voted to grant legal immunity to telecom corporations that cooperated with the NSA warrantless surveillance program.

In 2002, Coleman received a grade of A from the National Rifle Association, and in 2006 he received a 100% rating from Gun Owners of America.

Coleman recently made this statement about marijuana legalization: "I oppose the legalization of marijuana because, as noted by the Office of National Drug Control Policy, marijuana can have serious adverse health affects on individuals. The health problems that may occur from this highly addictive drug include short-term memory loss, anxiety, respiratory illness and a risk of lung cancer that far exceeds that of tobacco products. It would also make our transportation, schools and workplaces, just as examples, more dangerous." According to Coleman's former college classmate Norm Kent, Coleman smoked marijuana regularly in his college years and was an outspoken opponent of drug busts.

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Minnesota

Minnesota ( /mɪnɨˈsoʊtə/ (help·info)) is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. The twelfth largest state by area in the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with just over five million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state on May 11, 1858. Known as the "Land of 10,000 Lakes", the state's name is the Dakota word for "water". Those waters, together with forests, parks, and wilderness areas, offer residents and tourists a variety of outdoor recreational opportunities.

Nearly sixty percent of Minnesota's residents live in the Minneapolis-Saint Paul metropolitan area known as the Twin Cities, the center of transportation, business, and industry, and home to an internationally known arts community. The remainder of the state consists of western prairies now given over to intensive agriculture; eastern deciduous forests, also heavily farmed and settled; and the less populated North Woods. The large majority of residents are of Nordic or German descent, but ethnic diversity has increased in recent decades. Substantial influxes of African, Asian, and Latin American immigrants have joined the descendants of European immigrants and of the original Native American inhabitants.

The state is known for its moderate to liberal politics and social policies, its civic involvement, and high voter turnout. It ranks among the healthiest states and has one of the most highly educated and literate populations.

The word Minnesota comes from the Dakota language name for the Minnesota River: Mnisota. The root Mni (also spelled mini or minne) means, "water". Mnisota can be translated as sky-tinted water or somewhat clouded water. Native Americans demonstrated the name to early settlers by dropping milk into water and calling it mnisota. Many locations in the state have similar names, such as Minnehaha Falls ("waterfall"), Minneiska ("white water"), Minnetonka ("big water"), Minnetrista ("crooked water"), and Minneapolis, which is a combination of mni and polis, the Greek word for "city".

Minnesota is the northernmost state apart from Alaska; its isolated Northwest Angle in Lake of the Woods is the only part of the 48 contiguous states lying north of the 49th Parallel. It forms part of the U.S. region known as the Upper Midwest. The state shares a Lake Superior water border with Michigan and Wisconsin on the northeast; the remainder of the eastern border is with Wisconsin. Iowa is to the south, North Dakota and South Dakota to the west, and the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Manitoba to the north. With 87,014 square miles (225,365 km²), or approximately 2.25% of the United States, Minnesota is the twelfth largest state.

Minnesota contains some of the oldest rocks found on earth, gneisses some 3.6 billion years old, or 80% as old as the planet. About 2.7 billion years ago, basaltic lava poured out of cracks in the floor of the primordial ocean; the remains of this volcanic rock formed the Canadian Shield in northeast Minnesota. The roots of these volcanic mountains and the action of Precambrian seas formed the Iron Range of northern Minnesota. Following a period of volcanism 1.1 billion years ago, Minnesota's geological activity has been more subdued, with no volcanism or mountain formation, but with repeated incursions of the sea which left behind multiple strata of sedimentary rock.

In more recent times, massive ice sheets at least one kilometer thick ravaged the landscape of the state and sculpted its current terrain. The Wisconsin glaciation left 12,000 years ago. These glaciers covered all of Minnesota except the far southeast, an area characterized by steep hills and streams that cut into the bedrock. This area is known as the Driftless Zone for its absence of glacial drift. Much of the remainder of the state outside of the northeast has 50 feet (15 m) or more of glacial till left behind as the last glaciers retreated. 13,000 years ago gigantic Lake Agassiz formed in the northwest; the lake's outflow, the glacial River Warren, carved the valley of the Minnesota River, and its bottom created the fertile lands of the Red River valley. Minnesota is geologically quiet today; it experiences earthquakes infrequently, and most of them are minor.

The state's high point is Eagle Mountain at 2,301 feet (701 m), which is only 13 miles (20.9 km) away from the low of 602 feet (183 m) at the shore of Lake Superior. Not withstanding dramatic local differences in elevation, much of the state is a gently rolling peneplain.

Two continental divides meet in the northeastern part of Minnesota in rural Hibbing, forming a triple watershed. Precipitation can follow the Mississippi River south to the Gulf of Mexico, the St. Lawrence Seaway east to the Atlantic Ocean, or the Hudson Bay watershed to the Arctic Ocean.

The state's nickname, The Land of 10,000 Lakes, is no exaggeration; there are 11,842 lakes over 10 acres (.04 km²) in size. The Minnesota portion of Lake Superior is the largest at 962,700 acres (3,896 km²) and deepest (at 1,290 ft (390 m)) body of water in the state. Minnesota has 6,564 natural rivers and streams that cumulatively flow for 69,000 miles (111,000 km). The Mississippi River begins its journey from its headwaters at Lake Itasca and crosses the Iowa border 680 miles (1,094 km) downstream. It is joined by the Minnesota River at Fort Snelling, by the St. Croix River near Hastings, by the Chippewa River at Wabasha, and by many smaller streams. The Red River, in the bed of glacial Lake Agassiz, drains the northwest part of the state northward toward Canada's Hudson Bay. Approximately 10.6 million acres (42,900 km²) of wetlands are contained within Minnesota's borders, the most of any state except Alaska.

Minnesota has four ecological provinces: Prairie Parkland in the southwestern and western parts of the state, the Eastern Broadleaf Forest (Big Woods) in the southeast, extending in a narrowing strip to the northwestern part of the state, where it transitions into Tallgrass Aspen Parklands, and the northern Laurentian Mixed Forest, a transitional forest between the northern boreal forest and broadleaf forests to the south. These northern forests are a vast wilderness of pine and spruce trees mixed with patchy stands of birch and poplar. Much of Minnesota's northern forest has been logged, leaving only a few patches of old growth forest today in areas such as in the Chippewa National Forest and the Superior National Forest where the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness has some 400,000 acres (1,600 km²) of unlogged land. Although logging continues, regrowth keeps about one third of the state forested. Nearly all of Minnesota's prairies and oak savannas have been destroyed or fragmented because of farming, grazing, logging, and suburban development.

While loss of habitat has affected native animals such as the pine marten, elk, and bison, others like whitetail deer and bobcat thrive. The state has the nation's largest population of timber wolves outside Alaska, and supports healthy populations of black bear and moose. Located on the Mississippi Flyway, Minnesota hosts migratory waterfowl such as geese and ducks, and game birds such as grouse, pheasants, and turkeys. It is home to birds of prey including the bald eagle, red-tailed hawk, and snowy owl. The lakes teem with sport fish such as walleye, bass, muskellunge, and northern pike, and streams in the southeast are populated by brook, brown, and rainbow trout.

Minnesota endures temperature extremes characteristic of its continental climate; with cold winters and hot summers. The record high and low span is 174 degrees (from -60 to 114 degrees) Fahrenheit (span of 96C°; from -51°C to 45°C). Meteorological events include rain, snow, blizzards, thunderstorms, hail, derechos, tornadoes, and high-velocity straight-line winds. The growing season varies from 90 days per year in the Iron Range to 160 days in southeast Minnesota near the Mississippi River, and mean average temperatures range from 36 °F (2 °C) to 49 °F (9 °C). Average summer dew points range from about 58 °F (14.4 °C) in the south to about 48 °F (8.9 °C) in the north. Depending on location, average annual precipitation ranges from 19 in (48.3 cm) to 35 in (88.9 cm), and droughts occur every 10 to 50 years.

Minnesota's first state park, Itasca State Park, was established in 1891, and is the source of the Mississippi River. Today Minnesota has 72 state parks and recreation areas, 58 state forests covering about four million acres (16,000 km²), and numerous state wildlife preserves, all managed by the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. There are 5.5 million acres (22,000 km²) in the Chippewa and Superior National Forests. The Superior National Forest in the northeast contains the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, which encompasses over a million acres (4,000 km²) and a thousand lakes. To its west is Voyageurs National Park. The Mississippi National River and Recreation Area (MNRRA), is a 72 miles (116 km) long corridor along the Mississippi River through the Minneapolis-St. Paul Metropolitan Area connecting a variety of sites of historic, cultural, and geologic interest.

Before European settlement, Minnesota was populated by the Anishinaabe, the Dakota, and other Native Americans. The first Europeans were French fur traders that arrived in the 1600s. Late that century, Ojibwe Indians migrated westward to Minnesota, causing tensions with the Sioux. Explorers such as Daniel Greysolon, Sieur du Lhut, Father Louis Hennepin, Jonathan Carver, Henry Schoolcraft, and Joseph Nicollet, among others, mapped out the state.

The portion of the state east of the Mississippi River became a part of the United States at the end of the American Revolutionary War, when the Second Treaty of Paris was signed. Land west of the Mississippi River was acquired with the Louisiana Purchase, although a portion of the Red River Valley was disputed until the Treaty of 1818. In 1805, Zebulon Pike bargained with Native Americans to acquire land at the confluence of the Minnesota and Mississippi rivers. The construction of Fort Snelling followed between 1819 and 1825. Its soldiers built a grist mill and a sawmill at Saint Anthony Falls, the first of the water-powered industries around which the city of Minneapolis later grew. Meanwhile, squatters, government officials, and tourists had settled near the fort. In 1839, the Army forced them to move downriver, and they settled in the area that became St. Paul. Minnesota Territory was formed on March 3, 1849. Thousands of people had come to build farms and cut timber, and Minnesota became the 32nd U.S. state on May 11, 1858.

Treaties between whites and the Dakota and Ojibwe gradually forced the natives off their lands and on to smaller reservations. As conditions deteriorated for the Dakota, tensions rose, leading to the Dakota War of 1862. The result of the six-week war was the execution of 38 Dakota—the largest mass execution in United States history — and the exile of most of the rest of the Dakota to the Crow Creek Reservation in Nebraska.

Logging and farming were mainstays of Minnesota's early economy. The sawmills at Saint Anthony Falls, and logging centers like Marine on St. Croix, Stillwater, and Winona, processed high volumes of lumber. These cities were situated on rivers that were ideal for transportation. Later, Saint Anthony Falls was tapped to provide power for flour mills. Innovations by Minneapolis millers led to the production of Minnesota "patent" flour, which commanded almost double the price of "bakers" or "clear" flour, which it replaced. By 1900, Minnesota mills, led by Pillsbury and the Washburn-Crosby Company (a forerunner of General Mills), were grinding 14.1% of the nation's grain.

The state's iron-mining industry was established with the discovery of iron in the Vermilion Range and the Mesabi Range in the 1880s, and in the Cuyuna Range in the early 1900s. The ore was shipped by rail to Duluth and Two Harbors, then loaded onto ships and transported eastward over the Great Lakes.

Industrial development and the rise of manufacturing caused the population to shift gradually from rural areas to cities during the early 1900s. Nevertheless, farming remained prevalent. Minnesota's economy was hard-hit by the Great Depression, resulting in lower prices for farmers, layoffs among iron miners, and labor unrest. Compounding the adversity, western Minnesota and the Dakotas were hit by drought from 1931 to 1935. New Deal programs provided some economic turnaround. The Civilian Conservation Corps and other programs around the state established some jobs for Indians on their reservations, and the Indian Reorganization Act of 1934 provided the tribes with a mechanism of self-government. This provided natives a greater voice within the state, and promoted more respect for tribal customs because religious ceremonies and native languages were no longer suppressed.

After World War II, industrial development quickened. New technology increased farm productivity through automation of feedlots for hogs and cattle, machine milking at dairy farms, and raising chickens in large buildings. Planting became more specialized with hybridization of corn and wheat, and the use of farm machinery such as tractors and combines became the norm. University of Minnesota professor Norman Borlaug contributed to these developments as part of the Green Revolution. Suburban development accelerated due to increased postwar housing demand and convenient transportation. Increased mobility, in turn, enabled more specialized jobs.

Minnesota became a center of technology after the war. Engineering Research Associates was formed in 1946 to develop computers for the United States Navy. It later merged with Remington Rand, and then became Sperry Rand. William Norris left Sperry in 1957 to form Control Data Corporation (CDC). Cray Research was formed when Seymour Cray left CDC to form his own company. Medical device maker Medtronic also started business in the Twin Cities in 1949.

Saint Paul, located in east-central Minnesota along the banks of the Mississippi River, has been Minnesota's capital city since 1849, first as capital of the Territory of Minnesota, and then as state capital since 1858.

Saint Paul is adjacent to Minnesota's most populous city, Minneapolis; they and their suburbs are known collectively as the Twin Cities metropolitan area, the thirteenth largest metropolitan area in the United States and home to about 60% of the state's population (April 2005). The remainder of the state is known as "Greater Minnesota" or "Outstate Minnesota".

Minneapolis and Saint Paul are the only cities in Minnesota with over 100,000 inhabitants. The state also has fifteen cities with populations above 50,000 but below 100,000 (based on 2005 estimates). In descending order of size they are Rochester, Duluth, Bloomington, Plymouth, Brooklyn Park, Eagan, Coon Rapids, St. Cloud, Burnsville, Eden Prairie, Maple Grove, Woodbury, Blaine, Lakeville, and Minnetonka. Of these listed, only Rochester, Duluth, and St. Cloud are outside the Twin Cities metropolitan area.

Minnesota's population continues to grow, primarily in the urban centers. The populations of metropolitan Sherburne and Scott Counties doubled between 1980 and 2000, while 40 of the state's 87 counties lost residents over the same decades.

From fewer than 6,100 people in 1850, Minnesota's population grew to over 1.75 million by 1900. Each of the next six decades saw a 15% rise in population, reaching 3.41 million in 1960. Growth then slowed, rising 11% to 3.8 million in 1970, and an average of 9% over the next three decades to 4.91 million in the 2000 census. As of July 1, 2007, the state's population was estimated at 5,197,621 by the U.S. Census Bureau. The rate of population change, and age and gender distributions, approximate the national average. Minnesota's growing minority groups, however, still form a significantly smaller proportion of the population than in the nation as a whole. The center of population of Minnesota is located in Hennepin County, in the city of Rogers.

Over 75% of Minnesota's residents are of Western European descent, with the largest reported ancestries being German (38%), Norwegian (17%), Irish (12%), and Swedish (10%). As of 2006, 6.6% of residents were foreign-born, compared to 12.5% for the nation. The state has had the reputation of being relatively homogeneous, but that is changing. The Hispanic population of Minnesota is increasing rapidly, and recent immigrants have come from all over the world, including Hmong, Somalis, Vietnamese, South Asians, and emigrants from the former Soviet bloc.

Although Christianity is dominant, there is a long history of non-Christian faith. Ashkenazi Jewish pioneers set up Saint Paul's first synagogue in 1856, and there are now appreciable numbers of adherents to Islam, Buddhism, and other traditions. The majority of Minnesotans are Protestants, though Roman Catholics make up the largest single Christian denomination. A 2008 survey by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life showed that 32% of Minnesotans were affiliated with Protestant traditions, 21% with Evangelical Protestants, 28% with Roman Catholic, 1% each with Jewish, Islamic, Buddhist, and Black Protestant traditions, smaller amounts for other faiths, and 13% unaffiliated. This is broadly consistent with the results of the 2001 American Religious Identification Survey, which also gives detail on percentages of many individual denominations.

Once primarily a producer of raw materials, Minnesota's economy has transformed in the last 200 years to emphasize finished products and services. Perhaps the most significant characteristic of the economy is its diversity; the relative outputs of its business sectors closely match the United States as a whole. The economy of Minnesota had a gross domestic product of $234 billion in 2005. Thirty-six of the United States' top 1,000 publicly traded companies (by revenue in 2006) are headquartered in Minnesota, including Target, UnitedHealth Group, 3M, Medtronic, General Mills, U.S. Bancorp, and Best Buy. The largest privately owned U.S. company, Cargill, is headquartered in Minnetonka. Minnesota's state budget is currently facing a $935 million deficit.

The per capita income in 2005 was $37,290, the tenth-highest in the nation. The three-year median household income from 2002 to 2004 was $55,914, ranking fifth in the U.S. and first among the 36 states not on the Atlantic coast. White families earned more income than the national average but among the population under age 18, more than 20% of Asians and Hispanics, more than 40% of African Americans and more than 40% of Native American girls in Minnesota lived in poverty.

Minnesota's earliest industries were fur trading and agriculture; the city of Minneapolis grew around the flour mills powered by St. Anthony Falls. Although less than 1% of the population is employed in the agricultural sector, it remains a major part of the state's economy, ranking 6th in the nation in the value of products sold. The state is the U.S.'s largest producer of sugar beets, sweet corn, and green peas for processing, and farm-raised turkeys. Forestry remains strong, including logging, pulpwood processing and paper production, and forest products manufacturing. Minnesota was famous for its soft-ore mines, which produced a significant portion of the world's iron ore for over a century. Although the high-grade ore is now depleted, taconite mining continues, using processes developed locally to save the industry. In 2004, the state produced 75% of the country's usable iron ore. The mining boom created the port of Duluth which continues to be important for shipping ore, coal, and agricultural products. The manufacturing sector now includes technology and biomedical firms in addition to the older food processors and heavy industry. The nation's first indoor shopping mall was Edina's Southdale Center and its largest is Bloomington's Mall of America.

Minnesota is one of 42 U.S. states with its own lottery; its games include Powerball, Hot Lotto (both multi-state), and Gopher 5.

The state produces ethanol fuel and is the first to mandate its use, a 10% mix (E10) since 1997, and a 20% mix (E20) in 2013. There are more than 310 service stations supplying E85 fuel. A 2% biodiesel blend has been required in diesel fuel since 2005. As of December 2006 the state was the country's fourth-largest producer of wind power, with 895 megawatts installed and another 200 megawatts planned, much of it on the windy Buffalo Ridge in the southwest part of the state.

Minnesota has a slightly progressive income tax structure; the three brackets of state income tax rates are 5.35%, 7.05% and 7.85%. Minnesota is ranked as the 6th highest in the nation for per capita total state taxes. The sales tax in Minnesota is 6.5%, but there is no sales tax on clothing, prescription medications, some services, or food items for home consumption. The state legislature may allow municipalities to institute local sales taxes and special local taxes, such as the 0.5% supplemental sales tax in Minneapolis. Excise taxes are levied on alcohol, tobacco, and motor fuel. The state imposes a use tax on items purchased elsewhere but used within Minnesota. Owners of real property in Minnesota pay property tax to their county, municipality, school district, and special taxing districts.

Minnesota's major fine art museums include the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, the Walker Art Center, and the Frederick R. Weisman Art Museum. The Minnesota Orchestra and the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra are prominent full-time professional musical ensembles that perform concerts and offer educational programs to the community. Attendance at theatrical, musical, and comedy events in the area is strong. The Guthrie Theater moved into a new building in 2006, boasting three stages and overlooking the Mississippi River. In the United States, the Twin Cities' number of theater seats per capita ranks behind only New York City; with some 2.3 million theater tickets sold annually. The Minnesota Fringe Festival is an annual celebration of theatre, dance, improvisation, puppetry, kids' shows, visual art, and musicals. The summer festival consists of over 800 performances over 11 days in Minneapolis, and is the largest non-juried performing arts festival in the United States.

The rigors and rewards of pioneer life on the prairie were the subject of Giants in the Earth by Ole Rolvaag and of the Little House series of children's books by Laura Ingalls Wilder. Small-town life was attacked by Sinclair Lewis in the novel Main Street, and more gently and affectionately satirized by Garrison Keillor in his tales of Lake Wobegon. St. Paul native F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote of the social insecurities and aspirations of the young city in stories such as Winter Dreams and The Ice Palace (published in Flappers and Philosophers). Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's famous epic poem The Song of Hiawatha was inspired by Minnesota and many places and bodies of water in the state are named in the poem.

Minnesotan musicians of many genres include soul star Prince, harmony singers The Andrews Sisters, rockabilly star Eddie Cochran, folk musician Bob Dylan, garage rock band The Castaways, pop songwriters Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis, indie rock artists Jonny Lang and Soul Asylum, and cult favorites such as Hüsker Dü and The Replacements.

Minnesotans have made significant contributions to comedy, theater, and film. Ole and Lena jokes are best appreciated when delivered in the accent of Scandinavian Americans. Garrison Keillor is known around the country for resurrecting old-style radio comedy with A Prairie Home Companion, which has aired since the 1970s. Local television had the satirical show The Bedtime Nooz in the 1960s, while area natives Lizz Winstead and Craig Kilborn helped create the increasingly influential Daily Show decades later. Actors from the state include Eddie Albert, Judy Garland, Jessica Lange, Winona Ryder. Joel and Ethan Coen, Terry Gilliam and Mike Todd contributed to the art of film, and others brought the offbeat cult shows Mystery Science Theater 3000 and Let's Bowl to national cable from the Twin Cities.

Stereotypical Minnesotan traits include manners known as "Minnesota nice," Lutheranism, a strong sense of community and shared culture, and their distinctive brand of North Central American English sprinkled with Scandinavian-sounding words such as uff da. Potlucks, usually with a variety of hotdish casseroles, are popular at community functions, especially church activities. Minnesota's Scandinavian heritage makes lutefisk a traditional holiday dish. Movies like Fargo, Drop Dead Gorgeous, New in Town, Grumpy Old Men and Grumpier Old Men, the radio show A Prairie Home Companion and the book How to Talk Minnesotan lampoon (and celebrate) Minnesotan culture, speech and mannerisms.

The Minnesota State Fair, advertised as The Great Minnesota Get-Together, is an icon of state culture. In a state of 5.1 million people, there were nearly 1.7 million visitors to the fair in 2006. The fair covers the variety of life in Minnesota, including fine art, science, agriculture, food preparation, 4H displays, music, the midway, and corporate merchandising. It is known for its displays of seed art, butter sculptures of dairy princesses, the birthing barn, and the "fattest pig" competition. One can also find dozens of varieties of food on a stick, such as Pronto Pups, cheese curds, and deep fried candy bars. On a smaller scale, many of these attractions are offered at numerous county fairs.

Other large annual festivals include the Saint Paul Winter Carnival, Minneapolis' Aquatennial and Mill City Music Festival, the Minnesota Renaissance Festival in Shakopee, Moondance Jam in Walker, and Detroit Lakes' 10,000 Lakes Festival, the Judy Garland Festival in Grand Rapids, and WE Fest.

The people of Minnesota have a high rate of participation in outdoor activities; the state is ranked first in the percentage of residents who engage in regular exercise. Minnesotans have the nation's lowest premature death rate, third-lowest infant mortality rate, and the second-longest life expectancies. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, 91% of Minnesotans have health insurance, more than in any other state. These and other measures have led two groups to rank Minnesota as the fourth-healthiest state in the nation.

On October 1, 2007 Minnesota became the seventeenth state to enact a statewide smoking ban in restaurants and bars with the enactment of Freedom to Breathe Act.

Medical care is provided by a comprehensive network of hospitals and clinics, headed by two institutions with international reputations. The University of Minnesota Medical School is a highly rated teaching institution that has made a number of breakthroughs in treatment, and its research activities contribute significantly to the state's growing biotechnology industry. The Mayo Clinic, a world-renowned medical practice, is based in Rochester. Mayo and the University are partners in the Minnesota Partnership for Biotechnology and Medical Genomics, a state-funded program that conducts research into cancer, Alzheimer's disease, heart health, obesity, and other areas.

In March 2008, The American State Litter Scorecard, presented at the American Society for Public Administration national conference, rated Minnesota along with Vermont as topmost Best states for litter/debris removals from public properties (roadways, streams, trails), resulting in an overall healthy environmental quality status.

One of the first acts of the Minnesota Legislature when it opened in 1858 was the creation of a normal school at Winona. More recently, the state ranked 13th on the 2006–2007 Morgan Quitno Smartest State Award, and is first in the percentage of residents with at least a high school diploma. More than 90% of high school seniors graduated in 2006, but about 6% of white, 28% of African American, 30% of Asian American and more than 34% of Hispanic and Native American students dropped out of school. Minnesota students earn the highest average score in the nation on the ACT exam. While Minnesota has chosen not to implement school vouchers, it is home to the first charter school.

The state supports a network of public universities and colleges, currently 32 institutions in the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities System, and five major campuses of the University of Minnesota. It is also home to more than 20 private colleges and universities, six of which rank among the top 100 liberal arts colleges, according to U.S. News and World Report.

Transportation in Minnesota is overseen by the Minnesota Department of Transportation. Principal transportation corridors radiate from the Minneapolis-St. Paul metropolitan area and Duluth. The major Interstate highways are I-35, I-90, and I-94, with I-35 and I-94 passing through the Minneapolis-St. Paul metropolitan area, and I-90 going east-west along the southern edge of the state. In 2006, a constitutional amendment was passed that required sales and use taxes on motor vehicles to fund transportation, with at least 40% dedicated to public transit. There are nearly two dozen rail corridors in Minnesota, most of which go through Minneapolis-St. Paul or Duluth. There is water transportation along the Mississippi River system and from the ports of Lake Superior.

Minnesota's principal airport is Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport (MSP), the headquarters and major passenger and freight hub for Northwest Airlines and Sun Country Airlines. Most other domestic carriers serve the airport. Large commercial jet service is provided at Duluth and Rochester, with scheduled commuter service to six smaller cities via Northwest Airlines subsidiary Mesaba Airlines.

Amtrak's daily Empire Builder (Chicago-Seattle) train runs through Minnesota, calling at Midway Station in St. Paul and five other stations. Intercity bus service is provided by Greyhound, Jefferson Lines, and Coach USA. Local public transit is provided by bus networks in the larger cities and by the Hiawatha Line electrified light rail service linking downtown Minneapolis with the Airport and Bloomington.

As with the federal government of the United States, power in Minnesota is divided into three branches: executive, legislative, and judicial.

The executive branch is headed by the governor. The current governor is Tim Pawlenty, a Republican whose first term began on January 6, 2003 and who was narrowly re-elected in 2006. The current Lieutenant Governor of Minnesota is Carol Molnau, who was also the head of the Minnesota Department of Transportation until the Senate refused to confirm her appointment in February 2008. The offices of governor and lieutenant governor have four-year terms. The governor has a cabinet consisting of the leaders of various state government agencies, called commissioners. The other elected constitutional offices are secretary of state, attorney general, and state auditor.

The Minnesota Legislature is a bicameral body consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The state has sixty-seven districts, each covering about sixty thousand people. Each district has one senator and two representatives (each district being divided into A and B sections). Senators serve for four years and representatives for two years. In the November 2008 election, the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party (DFL) gained two more house seats, giving them control of the House of Representatives by 87-47. The Senate is also controlled by the DFL with a veto-proof majority of 47-21..

Minnesota's court system has three levels. Most cases start in the district courts, which are courts of general jurisdiction. There are 272 district court judges in ten judicial districts. Appeals from the trial courts and challenges to certain governmental decisions are heard by the Minnesota Court of Appeals, consisting of sixteen judges who typically sit in three-judge panels. The seven-justice Minnesota Supreme Court hears all appeals from the Tax Court, the Worker's Compensation Court, first-degree murder convictions, and discretionary appeals from the Court of Appeals; it also has original jurisdiction over election disputes.

Two specialized courts within administrative agencies have been established: the Workers' Compensation Court of Appeals, and the Tax Court, which deals with non-criminal tax cases.

Below the city and county levels of government found in the United States, Minnesota has other entities that provide governmental oversight and planning. Some actions in the Twin Cities metropolitan area are coordinated by the Metropolitan Council, and many lakes and rivers are overseen by watershed districts and soil and water conservation districts.

There are seven Anishinaabe reservations and four Dakota communities in Minnesota. These communities are self-governing.

Minnesota currently has only one United States senator, Democrat Amy Klobuchar. The outcome of the United States Senate election in Minnesota, 2008 is contested. The state has eight congressional districts; they are represented by Tim Walz (1st district), John Kline (2nd), Erik Paulsen (3rd), Betty McCollum (4th), Keith Ellison (5th), Michele Bachmann (6th), Collin Peterson (7th), and James Oberstar (8th).

Federal court cases are heard in the United States District Court for the District of Minnesota, which holds court in Minneapolis, St. Paul, Duluth, and Fergus Falls. Appeals are heard by the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals based in St. Louis, Missouri and St. Paul.

Minnesota is known for a politically active citizenry, and populism has been a longstanding force among the state's political parties. Minnesota has a consistently high voter turnout, due in part to its liberal voter registration laws, with virtually no evidence of voter fraud. In the 2008 U.S. presidential election, 77.9% of eligible Minnesotans voted—the highest percentage of any U.S. state—versus the national average of 61.2%. Previously unregistered voters can register on election day at their polls with evidence of residency.

Hubert Humphrey brought national attention to the state with his address at the 1948 Democratic National Convention. Eugene McCarthy's anti-war stance and popularity in the 1968 New Hampshire Primary likely convinced Lyndon B. Johnson to drop out of the presidential election. Minnesotans have consistently cast their Electoral College votes for Democratic presidential candidates since 1976, longer than any other state. Minnesota is the only state in the nation that did not vote for Ronald Reagan in either of his presidential runs.

Both the Democratic and Republican parties have major party status in Minnesota, but its state-level "Democratic" party is actually a separate party, officially known as the Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party (DFL). Formed out of a 1944 alliance of the Minnesota Democratic and Farmer-Labor parties, the DFL now serves as a de-facto proxy to the federal Democratic Party, and its distinction from the Democratic Party, while still official, is now a functional technicality.

The state has had active third party movements. The Reform Party, now the Independence Party, was able to elect former mayor of Brooklyn Park and professional wrestler Jesse Ventura to the governorship in 1998. The Independence Party has received enough support to keep major party status. The Green Party, while no longer having major party status, has a large presence in municipal government, notably in Minneapolis and Duluth, where it competes directly with the DFL party for local offices. Official "Major party" status in Minnesota (which grants state funding for elections) is reserved to parties, which receive 5% or more of the state's general vote in the U.S. Presidential election. Status is revised every four years.

Senator Norm Coleman (R-MN) was elected to the U.S. Senate in 2002, defeating former Vice President and former U.S. Senator Walter Mondale (D-MN), who entered the race as the Democratic candidate after Senator Paul Wellstone died in a plane crash on October 25, 2002. Before his election to the U.S. Senate, Senator Coleman was the mayor of Saint Paul, Minnesota from 1994 to 2002 and served 17 years with the Minnesota Attorney General Office, holding the positions of Chief Prosecutor and Solicitor General of the State of Minnesota. In 1996, after becoming increasingly frustrated with the Democratic Party, Coleman joined the Republican Party, which more closely matched his values. In his 1997 mayoral campaign for re-election as a Republican, Coleman received 59 percent of the vote.

The state's U.S. Senate seats have generally been split since the early 1990s, and in the 108th and 109th Congresses, Minnesota's congressional delegation was split, with four representatives and one senator from each party. In the 2006 midterm election, Democrats were elected to all state offices except for governor and lieutenant governor, where Republicans Tim Pawlenty and Carol Molnau narrowly won re-election. The DFL also posted double-digit gains in both houses of the legislature, elected Amy Klobuchar to the U.S. Senate, and increased the party's U.S. House caucus by one. Keith Ellison (DFL) was elected as the first African American U.S. Representative from Minnesota as well as the first Muslim elected to Congress nationwide.

The Twin Cities area is the fifteenth largest media market in the United States as ranked by Nielsen Media Research. The state's other top markets are Fargo-Moorhead (118th nationally), Duluth-Superior (137th), Rochester-Mason City-Austin (152nd), and Mankato (200th).

Broadcast television in Minnesota and the Upper Midwest started on April 27, 1948, when KSTP-TV began broadcasting. Hubbard Broadcasting Corporation, which owns KSTP, is now the only locally-owned television company in Minnesota. There are currently 39 analog broadcast stations and 23 digital channels broadcast over Minnesota.

The four largest daily newspapers are the Star Tribune in Minneapolis, the Pioneer Press in Saint Paul, the Duluth News Tribune in Duluth and The Minnesota Daily, the largest student-run newspaper in the U.S. Sites offering daily news on the Web include MinnPost, the Twin Cities Daily Planet, business news site Finance and Commerce (web site) and Washington D.C.-based Minnesota Independent. Weeklies including City Pages and monthly publications such as Minnesota Monthly are also available.

Two of the largest public radio networks, Minnesota Public Radio (MPR) and Public Radio International (PRI), are based in the state. MPR has the largest audience of any regional public radio network in the nation, broadcasting on 37 radio stations. PRI weekly provides more than 400 hours of programming to almost 800 affiliates. The state's oldest radio station, KUOM-AM, was launched in 1922 and is among the 10 oldest radio stations in the United States. The University of Minnesota-owned station is still on the air, and since 1993 broadcasts a college rock format.

Minnesota has professional men's teams in all major sports. The Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome is home to the Minnesota Vikings of the National Football League, and to the Minnesota Twins of Major League Baseball, winners of the 1987 and 1991 World Series. Target Field is currently being constructed on the west side of downtown Minneapolis, which will be the home of the Minnesota Twins once completed. The Minnesota Timberwolves of the National Basketball Association play in the Target Center. The National Hockey League's Minnesota Wild team reached 300 consecutive sold-out games in St. Paul's Xcel Energy Center on January 16, 2008. The Minnesota Thunder plays professional soccer in the USL First Division, the second tier of the American Soccer Pyramid; it plays at the National Sports Center in Blaine.

Minor league baseball is represented both by major league-sponsored teams and independent teams such as the popular St. Paul Saints.

Professional women's sports include the Minnesota Lynx of the Women's National Basketball Association, the Minnesota Lightning of the United Soccer Leagues W-League, the Minnesota Vixen of the Women's Professional Football League, and the Minnesota Whitecaps of the National Women's Hockey League.

The Twin Cities campus of the University of Minnesota is a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I school, with sports teams competing in either the Big Ten Conference or the Western Collegiate Hockey Association. Four additional schools in the state compete in NCAA Division I ice hockey: the University of Minnesota Duluth, St. Cloud State University, Bemidji State University, and Minnesota State University Mankato. There are nine NCAA Division II colleges represented by the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference in Minnesota, and sixteen NCAA Division III colleges represented by the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference and Upper Midwest Athletic Conference.

Winter Olympic Games medallists from the state include eleven of the twenty members of the gold medal 1980 ice hockey team (coached by Minnesota native Herb Brooks) and the bronze medallist U.S. men's curling team in the 2006 Winter Olympics. Swimmer Tom Malchow won an Olympic gold medal in the 2000 Summer games and a silver medal in 1996.

Grandma's Marathon is run every summer along the scenic North Shore of Lake Superior, and the Twin Cities Marathon winds around lakes and the Mississippi River during the peak of the fall color season.

Minnesotans participate in high levels of physical activity, and many of these activities are outdoors. The strong interest of Minnesotans in environmentalism has been attributed to the popularity of these pursuits.

In the warmer months, these activities often involve water. Weekend and longer trips to family cabins on Minnesota's numerous lakes are a way of life for many residents. Activities include water sports such as water skiing, which originated in the state, boating, canoeing, and fishing. More than 36% of Minnesotans fish, second only to Alaska.

Fishing does not cease when the lakes freeze; ice fishing has been around since the arrival of early Scandinavian immigrants. Minnesotans have learned to embrace their long, harsh winters in ice sports such as skating, hockey, curling, and broomball, and snow sports such as cross-country skiing, alpine skiing, snowshoeing, and snowmobiling.

State and national forests and the seventy-two state parks are used year-round for hunting, camping, and hiking. There are almost 20,000 miles (32,000 km) of snowmobile trails statewide. Minnesota has more miles of bike trails than any other state, and a growing network of hiking trails, including the 235-mile (378 km) Superior Hiking Trail in the northeast. Many hiking and bike trails are used for cross-country skiing during the winter.

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Saint Paul, Minnesota

Saint Paul (IPA: /seɪnt ˈpɔːl/, abbreviated St. Paul) is the capital and second most populated city in the U.S. state of Minnesota. The city lies on the north bank of the Mississippi River, downstream of the river's confluence with the Minnesota River, and adjoins Minneapolis, the state's largest city. Known as the "Twin Cities", these two cities form the core of Minneapolis-Saint Paul, the sixteenth largest metropolitan area in the United States, with about 3.2 million residents. The city's population at the 2000 census was 287,151. Saint Paul serves as the county seat of Ramsey County, the smallest and most densely populated county in Minnesota.

Founded near historic Native American settlements as a trading and transportation center, the city rose to prominence when it was named the capital of the Minnesota Territory in 1849. Though Minneapolis is more nationally recognized, Saint Paul contains important institutions and the state's political activity. Regionally, the city is popular for the Xcel Energy Center, home of the Minnesota Wild, and for the Science Museum of Minnesota. As a business hub of the Upper Midwest, it is headquarters for companies such as Ecolab, The Travelers Companies, and Lawson Software.

The settlement originally began at present-day Lambert's Landing but was referred to as Pig's Eye, when Pierre "Pig's Eye" Parrant established a popular tavern there. When Fr. Lucien Galtier, the first Catholic pastor of the region, established the Log Chapel of St. Paul (shortly thereafter to become the first location of the Cathedral of St. Paul), he made it known that the settlement was now to be called by that name, as "St. Paul as applied to a town or city was well appropriated, this monosyllable is short, sounds good, it is understood by all christian denominations...".

Burial mounds in present-day Indian Mounds Park suggest the area was originally inhabited by the Hopewell Native Americans about two thousand years ago. From the early 17th century until 1837 the Mdewakanton Dakota, a tribe of the Sioux, lived near the mounds after fleeing their ancestral home of Mille Lacs Lake from advancing Ojibwe. They called the area I-mni-za ska dan ("little white rock") from the exposed white sandstone cliffs.

Following the Louisiana Purchase in 1803, a U.S. Army officer named Zebulon Pike negotiated for approximately 100,000 acres (400 km2; 160 sq mi) of land from the local Dakota tribes in 1805 for the establishment of a fort. The territory was located on both banks of the Mississippi River starting from Saint Anthony Falls in present-day Minneapolis to the confluence with the Saint Croix River. Fort Snelling was built on the territory in 1819 at the confluence of the Mississippi and Minnesota Rivers, which formed a natural barrier to both Native American nations. The 1837 Treaty with the Sioux ceded all local tribal land east of the Mississippi to the U.S. Government. Taoyateduta (Chief Little Crow V) moved his band at Kaposia across the river to the south. Fur traders, explorers, and missionaries came to the area for the fort's protection. Many of the settlers were French Canadians and lived nearby. However, as a whiskey trade flourished, military officers banned settlers from the fort-controlled lands. Pierre "Pig's Eye" Parrant, a retired fur trader-turned-bootlegger who particularly irritated officials, set up his tavern, the Pig's Eye, near present-day Lambert's Landing. By the early 1840s, the community had become important as a trading center and a destination for settlers heading west. Locals called the area Pig's Eye (French: L'Oeil du Cochon) or Pig's Eye Landing after Parrant's popular tavern.

In 1841, Father Lucien Galtier was sent to minister to the Catholic French Canadians and established a chapel on the bluffs above Lambert's Landing named for his favorite saint, Paul the Apostle. Galtier intended for the settlement to adopt the name Saint Paul in honor of the new chapel. In 1847 a New York educator named Harriet Bishop moved to the area and opened the city's first school. The Minnesota Territory was formalized in 1849 and Saint Paul named as capital. In 1857, the territorial legislature voted to move the capital to Saint Peter. However, Joe Rolette, a territorial legislator, stole the physical text of the approved bill and went into hiding, thus preventing the move. On May 11, 1858, Minnesota was admitted to the union as the thirty-second state with Saint Paul as the capital.

That year, more than 1,000 steamboats were in service at Saint Paul, making the city a gateway for settlers to the Minnesota frontier or Dakota Territory. Natural geography was a primary reason the city became a landing. The area was the last accessible point to unload boats coming upriver due to the Mississippi River valley's stone bluffs. During this period, Saint Paul was called "The Last City of the East." James J. Hill constructed and expanded his network of railways into the Great Northern Railway and Northern Pacific Railway, which were headquartered in Saint Paul. Today they are the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway.

On August 20, 1904, severe thunderstorms and tornadoes damaged hundreds of downtown buildings causing USD $1.78 million (1904) in damages in the city and ripping spans from the High Bridge. In the 1960s during urban renewal, Saint Paul razed western neighborhoods close to downtown. The city also contended with creation of the interstate freeway system in a fully built landscape. From 1959 to 1961, the western Rondo neighborhood was obliterated by the construction of Interstate 94 and brought attention to racial segregation and unequal housing in northern cities. The Rondo Days celebration annually commemorates the African American community.

Downtown had short skyscraper booms beginning in the 1970s. The tallest buildings were constructed in the late 1980s such as Galtier Plaza (Jackson and Sibley Towers), The Pointe of Saint Paul condominiums, and the city's tallest building Wells Fargo Place (formerly Minnesota World Trade Center). The 1990s to 2000s continued the tradition of ushering in new immigrant groups. As of 2004, nearly 10% of the city's population were recent Hmong immigrants from Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Thailand, and Myanmar.

Saint Paul history and the city's growth as a landing port are tied to water. The city's defining physical characteristic, the Mississippi and connecting Minnesota Rivers were carved into the region during the last ice age. Fed by receding glaciers and Lake Agassiz ten thousand years ago, torrents of water from a glacial river undercut the river valleys. The city is situated in east-central Minnesota.

The Mississippi River forms a municipal boundary on part of the city's west, southwest and southeast sides. Minneapolis, the state's largest city lies to the west; Falcon Heights, Lauderdale, Roseville, and Maplewood are north; Maplewood is also to the east; the cities of West Saint Paul and South Saint Paul are to the south; and Lilydale, Mendota and Mendota Heights lie across the river from the city to the south. The city's largest lakes are Pig's Eye Lake, in the river, Lake Phalen, and Lake Como. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 56.2 square miles (145.5 km²). 52.8 square miles (136.7 km²) of it is land and 3.4 square miles (8.8 km²) of it (6.07%) is water.

Saint Paul's Department of Planning and Economic Development divides Saint Paul into 17 Planning Districts, created in 1979 to allow neighborhoods to participate in governance and utilize Community Development Block Grants. With a funding agreement directly from the city, the councils share a pool of funds. The councils have significant land-use control, a voice in guiding development, and they organize residents. The boundaries are adjusted depending on population changes, as such, they sometimes overlap established neighborhoods.

Saint Paul has a continental climate typical of the Upper Midwestern United States. Winters can be cold and dry, while summer is comfortably warm although at times it can be hot and humid. On the Köppen climate classification, Saint Paul falls in the warm summer humid continental climate zone (Dfa). The city experiences a full range of precipitation and related weather events, including snow, sleet, ice, rain, thunderstorms, tornadoes and fog.

Due to its northerly location in the United States and lack of large bodies of water to moderate the air, Saint Paul is sometimes subjected to cold Arctic air masses, especially during late December, January and February. The average annual temperature of 45.4 °F (7 °C) gives the Minneapolis–Saint Paul metropolitan area the coldest annual mean temperature of any major metropolitan area in the continental U.S.

The earliest known inhabitants from about 400 A.D. were members of the Hopewell tradition who buried their dead in mounds (now Indian Mounds Park) on the bluffs above the river. The next known inhabitants were the Mdewakanton Dakota in the 17th century who fled their ancestral home of Mille Lacs Lake in northern Minnesota in response to westward expansion of the Ojibwe nation. The Ojibwe would later occupy the north (east) bank of the Mississippi River.

By 1800, French Canadian explorers came through the region and attracted fur traders to the area. Fort Snelling and nearby Pig's Eye Tavern also brought the first Yankees from New England and English, Irish, and Scottish immigrants who had enlisted in the army and settled nearby after discharge. These early settlers and entrepreneurs built houses on the heights north of the river. The first wave of immigration came with the Irish who settled at Connemara Patch along the Mississippi, named for their home in Connemara Ireland. The Irish would become prolific in politics, city governance, and public safety much to the chagrin of the Germans and French who had grown into the majority. In 1850, the first of many waves of Swedish immigrants passed through Saint Paul on their way to farming communities in northern and western regions of the territory. A large group settled in Swede Hollow which would later become home to Poles, Italians and Mexicans. The last Swedish presence had moved up Saint Paul's East Side along Payne Avenue in the 1950s. In terms of people who specified European ancestry in the 2000 Census, the city was 21.5% (73,265) German, 10.8% (36,699) Irish and 7.0% (24,035) Norwegian ancestry with almost all other European ancestries represented.

By the 1980s, the Thomas Dale area, once a Austro-Hungarian enclave known as Frogtown (German: Froschburg), became home to Vietnamese who left their war-torn country. Soon after a settlement program for the Hmong diaspora came and by 2000, the Saint Paul Hmong were the largest urban contingent in the United States. Mexican immigrants have settled in Saint Paul's West Side since the 1930s, and have grown enough that Mexico opened a foreign consulate in the 2005.

The majority of residents claiming religious affiliation are Christian, split between the Roman Catholic Church and various Protestant denominations. The Roman Catholic presence comes from Irish, German, Scottish, and French Canadian settlers who in time would be bolstered by Hispanic immigrants. There are Jewish synagogues such as Mount Zion Temple and relatively small populations of Hindus, Muslims, Buddhists, and Pagans.

As of the 2000 U.S. Census, there were 287,151 people, 112,109 households, and 60,987 families residing in the city. The racial makeup of the city was 64.01% White, 11.71% African American, 1.13% Native American, 12.36% Asian (mostly Hmong and Vietnamese), 0.07% Pacific Islander, 3.84% from other races, and 3.87% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race (incl. white) were 7.91% of the population. The median income for a household in the city was $38,774. About 15.6% of the population were living below the poverty line.

The Minneapolis-Saint Paul-Bloomington area employs 1,570,700 people in the private sector as of July 2008, 82.43 percent of which work in private service providing-related jobs.

Major corporations headquartered in Saint Paul include The Travelers Companies, a major insurance firm, Ecolab, a chemical and cleaning product company which was named in 2008 by the Minneapolis / St. Paul Business Journal as the eighth best place to work in the Twin Cites for companies with 1,000 full-time Minnesota employees, Securian Financial Group Inc., Lawson Software, a business software and support company, and Gander Mountain, a retailer of sporting goods which operates 115 stores in 23 states.

The 3M Company is often cited as one of Saint Paul's companies though it is located in adjacent Maplewood, Minnesota. 3M employs 16,000 people throughout Minnesota. St. Jude Medical, a manufacturer of medical devices, is directly across the municipal border of Saint Paul in Little Canada though the companies address is listed in Saint Paul. Patterson Dental, a dental supply company, also has a Saint Paul mailing address, but it is located in Mendota Heights.

The city is home to the Ford Motor Company's Twin Cities Assembly Plant, which it opened in 1924. Recently slated for closing, Ford now expects the plant to remain open through at least 2011 despite massive corporate losses. The site is located in Highland Park on the Mississippi River adjacent to a company-owned dam, which generates hydroelectric power.

In winter months, Saint Paul is active with the Saint Paul Winter Carnival, a tradition originating from 1886 when a New York reporter called Saint Paul "another Siberia." Attended by 350,000 visitors annually, the event showcases ice sculpting, winter food, activities, and an ice palace. Year round the Como Zoo and Conservatory and adjoining zoo and Japanese Garden are popular. The historic Landmark Center located in downtown Saint Paul hosts cultural and arts organizations. The city's notable recreation locations include Indian Mounds Park, Battle Creek Regional Park, Harriet Island Regional Park, Highland Park, the Wabasha Street Caves, Lake Como, Lake Phalen, and Rice Park, as well as several areas abutting the Mississippi River.

The city is associated with the Minnesota State Fair located in nearby Falcon Heights as the fair grounds are just north of the Midway neighborhood and southeast of the University of Minnesota Saint Paul Campus. Though Fort Snelling is on the Minneapolis side of the Mississippi River bluff, the area including Fort Snelling State Park and Pike Island is managed by the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources headquartered in the city.

Saint Paul is the birthplace of cartoonist Charles M. Schulz (Peanuts) who lived in Merriam Park from infancy until early 1960. Schulz' Snoopy cartoon inspired decorated giant Peanuts sculptures around the city, a chamber of commerce promotion in the late 1990s. Other notables include playwright August Wilson who lived in the city from 1978 until 1990. He wrote much of his decalogue of plays about the African-American experience in the 20th century during this time, premiering at the Penumbra Theatre. Other 20th century notables include renowned painter LeRoy Neiman and photographer John Vachon.

The Ordway Center for the Performing Arts hosts theater productions and the Minnesota Opera is a founding tenant. RiverCentre, attached to Xcel Energy Center, serves as the city's convention center. The city has contributed to the music of Minnesota and the Twin Cities music scene through various venues. Great jazz musicians have passed through the influential Artists' Quarter, first established in the 1970s in Whittier, Minneapolis until it moved to downtown Saint Paul in 1994. The Turf Club in Midway has been a music scene landmark since the 1940s. St. Paul is also the home base for the internationally acclaimed Rose Ensemble. As an Irish stronghold, the city boasts popular Irish pubs with live music such as Shamrocks and O'Gara's. The internationally acclaimed Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra is the nation's only full-time professional chamber orchestra. The Minnesota Centennial Showboat on the Mississippi River began in 1958 with Minnesota's first centennial celebration.

Saint Paul hosts a number of museums including the University of Minnesota's Goldstein Museum of Design; The Minnesota Children's Museum; The Schubert Club Museum of Musical Instruments; The Minnesota Museum of American Art; The Traces Center for History and Culture; The Minnesota History Center; The Alexander Ramsey House; The James J. Hill House; The Minnesota Transportation Museum; The Science Museum of Minnesota; and The Twin City Model Railroad Museum.

Residents of Saint Paul can receive 10 broadcast television stations, five of which broadcast from within Saint Paul. One daily newspaper, the St. Paul Pioneer Press, two weekly neighborhood newspapers, the East Side Review and City Pages (Village Voice Media), and several monthly neighborhood papers serve the city. Several media outlets based in neighboring Minneapolis also serve the Saint Paul community, including the Star Tribune. And the magazine, Saint Paul Illustrated is published in Bloomington.

Saint Paul is home to Minnesota Public Radio, a three-format system that broadcasts on nearly 40 stations around the Midwest. MPR locally delivers news and information, classical, and The Current (which plays a wide variety of music). The station regionally has 94,000 members and more than 800,000 listeners each week throughout the Upper Midwest, the largest audience of any regional public radio network. Also operating as part of American Public Media, MPR's programming reaches 5 million listeners, most notably through A Prairie Home Companion hosted by Garrison Keillor, who also lives in the city. The Fitzgerald Theater, renamed in 1994 for Irish native and novelist F. Scott Fitzgerald is home to the show.

The Saint Paul division of Parks and Recreation runs over 1,500 organized sports teams. In addition the Parks and Recreation department is responsible for 160 parks and 41 recreation centers.

Saint Paul hosts a number of professional, semi-professional and amateur sports teams. The Minnesota Wild and the Minnesota Swarm both play their home game in downtown Saint Paul's Xcel Energy Center, which was built for the Wild in 2000. The Wild brought the NHL back to Minnesota for the first time since 1993, when the Minnesota North Stars left the city for Dallas, Texas. Citing the history of hockey in the Twin Cities and teams at all levels, Sports Illustrated affectionately called Saint Paul the new Hockeytown U.S.A. in 2007.

The Xcel Energy Center, a multi-purpose entertainment and sports venue, can be converted to host concerts and accommodate nearly all sporting events. The Xcel Energy Center is located on the site of the demolished Saint Paul Civic Center. The Xcel Energy Center hosts the Minnesota high school boy's hockey Tournament, Minnesota High School Girl's Volleyball Tournament and concerts though out the year. In 2004, it was named the best overall sports venue in the U.S. by ESPN. Previously, the Minnesota Fighting Saints had played in Saint Paul from 1972 to 1977.

The St. Paul Saints is the city's semi-professional baseball team. Originally founded in 1884, they were shut down in 1961 after the Minnesota Twins moved to Minneapolis. The St. Paul Saints were brought back in 1993 as an independent baseball team in the Northern League of the American Association. Their home games are played at open-air Midway Stadium in Energy Park in the northwest section of the city. Four noted Major League All Star baseball players are natives of Saint Paul: Hall of Fame outfielder Dave Winfield, Hall of Fame infielder Paul Molitor, pitcher Jack Morris and catcher Joe Mauer. The all black St. Paul Colored Gophers played four seasons in Saint Paul from 1907 to 1911.

The St. Paul Twin Stars of the National Premier Soccer League play their home games at James Griffin Stadium. The first curling club in Saint Paul was founded in 1888. The current club, the Saint Paul Curling Club, was founded in 1912 and is the largest curling club in the United States. The Minnesota RollerGirls are a flat-track roller derby league that is based in the Roy Wilkins Auditorium. Minnesota's oldest athletic organization, the Minnesota Boat Club resides in the Mississippi River on Raspberry Island. The club has produced world-class rowers for over a century.

The Minnesota Timberwolves, Twins, and Vikings all play in Minneapolis.

Saint Paul is governed via a variation of the strong mayor-council form of government. The mayor is the chief executive and chief administrative officer for the city and the seven member city council is the legislative body. The mayor is elected by the entire city, while members of the city council are elected from seven different geographic wards, which have approximately equal populations. Both the mayor and council members serve four-year terms. The current mayor is Chris Coleman (DFL), who is unrelated to former mayor Norm Coleman. Coleman follows a long line of Irish mayors and he is the ninth since 1900. Aside from Norm Coleman (1994-2002) who became a Republican in his second term, Saint Paul has not elected a Republican mayor since 1952.

The city is also the county seat for Ramsey County, named for Alexander Ramsey the first state governor. The county once spanned much of the present-day metropolitan area and was originally to be named Saint Paul County after the city. Today it is geographically the smallest county and is the most densely populated. As the only home rule county in Minnesota, the seven-member Board of Commissioners appoints a county manager whose office is in the combination city hall/county courthouse along with the Minnesota Second Judicial Courts. The nearby Law Enforcement Center houses the Ramsey County Sheriff's office.

Saint Paul is the capital of the state of Minnesota. The city hosts the capitol building, designed by Saint Paul resident Cass Gilbert, and the House and Senate office buildings. The Minnesota Governor's Residence, which is used for some state functions, is on Summit Avenue. Minnesota's two major political parties are headquartered in Saint Paul. The Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party, affiliated with the Democratic Party and the Republican Party of Minnesota. Many state departments and services are headquartered throughout Saint Paul such as the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources.

The city is represented by 12 people in the Minnesota Legislature. The latest biannual election was in 2008. At the Federal level, the city is in Minnesota's 4th congressional district, represented by Betty McCollum, a Democrat. In the Senate, Minnesota is represented by Amy Klobuchar, a former Hennepin County Attorney, a Democrat.

Note: Ellen Anderson and Alice Hausman also represent Falcon Heights.

Saint Paul is second in the United States in the number of higher education institutions per capita. Higher education institutions that call Saint Paul home include three public and eight private colleges and universities, and five post-secondary institutions. Well-known colleges and universities include: the College of Saint Catherine, Concordia University, Hamline University, Macalester College, and the University of St. Thomas. Metropolitan State University and Saint Paul College, which focus on non-traditional students, are based in Saint Paul, as well as two law schools, William Mitchell College of Law and Hamline University School of Law.

The Saint Paul Public Schools district is the state's second largest school district and serves approximately 42,000 students. The district is extremely diverse with students from families speaking 70 different languages, although only four languages are used for most school communication. Those languages are English, Spanish, Hmong and Somali. The district runs 82 different schools including 52 elementary schools, twelve middle schools, seven high schools, ten alternative schools and one special education school, employing over 6,500 teachers and staff. The school district also oversees community education programs for pre-K and adult learners, including Early Childhood Family Education, GED Diploma, language programs and various learning opportunities for community members of all ages. In 2006, Saint Paul Public Schools celebrated its 150th anniversary.

A variety of K-12 private, parochial and public charter schools are also represented in the city. In 1992, Saint Paul became the first city in the U.S. to sponsor and open a charter school, now found in most states across the nation. Saint Paul is currently home to 21 charter schools as well as 38 private schools. They include Hill-Murray High School in the Hillcrest neighborhood and Cretin-Derham Hall High School in the Highland Park neighborhood. Both are members of the Catholic Church.

Residents utilize Interstate 35E running north-south, and Interstate 94 running east-west. Trunk highways include U.S. Highway 52, Minnesota State Highway 280, and Minnesota State Highway 5. Saint Paul has several unique roads such as Ayd Mill Road and Shepard Road/Warner Road, which diagonally follow particular geographic features in the city. Metro Transit provides bus service and connects the city to the existing Hiawatha Line light rail via dedicated bus routes but will not have its own line, the Central Line along University Avenue until 2014. Downtown Saint Paul has a five mile (8 km) enclosed skyway system over twenty-five city blocks. Biking is also gaining popularity due to paved bike lanes which connect to other bike routes throughout the metropolitan area.

The layout of city streets and roads has often drawn complaints. Jesse Ventura brought up the city's roadways during an appearance on the Late Show with David Letterman while Governor of Minnesota. Ventura later apologized for his remark that the streets had been designed by "drunken Irishmen," although people had already been complaining about the fractured grid system for more than a century by that point. Some of the city road design is the result of the curve of the Mississippi River, hilly topography, conflicts between developers of different neighborhoods in the early city, and grand plans only half-realized. Outside of downtown, the roads are less confusing, but most roads are named, rather than numbered, increasing the difficulty for non-natives to navigate. Due to neighborhood autonomy, some roads suddenly change names without warning.

Amtrak's Empire Builder between Chicago and Seattle stops once daily in each direction at nearby Midway Station. Ridership on the train is increasing, about 6% from 2005 to over 505,000 in fiscal year 2007. Increased ridership has prompted southern Minnesota leaders to plan for an expansion of Amtrak's service in the area, including an overhaul of Saint Paul's Union Depot. Saint Paul is the site of the Pig's Eye Yard, a major freight Classification yard for Canadian Pacific Railway. As of 2003, the yard handled over 1,000 freight cars per day. Both Union Pacific and Burlington Northern Santa Fe run trains through yard, though they are not classified at Pig's Eye. Burlington Northern Santa Fe operates the large Northtown Yard in Minneapolis, which handles about 600 cars per day. There are several other small yards located around the city.

Saint Paul is served by the Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport (MSP), which sits on 3,400 acres (14 km²) southwest of the city on the west side of the Mississippi River between Minnesota State Highway 5, Interstate 494, Minnesota State Highway 77, and Minnesota State Highway 62. The airport serves three international, twelve domestic, seven charter and four regional carriers and is a hub and home base for Northwest Airlines, Mesaba Airlines and Sun Country Airlines. Saint Paul is also served by the St. Paul Downtown Airport located just south of downtown, across the Mississippi River. The airport, also known as Holman Field, is a reliever airport, run by the Metropolitan Airports Commission. The airport houses Minnesota's Air National Guard and is tailored to local corporate aviation. There are three runways that serve about 100 resident aircraft and a flight training school. The Holman Field Administration Building and Riverside Hangar are on the National Register of Historic Places.

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