Tim Walz lost the Minnesota county where he lived for more than 20 years

Kamala Harris and Tim Walz suffered a tough defeat in the presidential election last Nov. 5. The Democratic ticket lost all seven key states to Donald Trump and JD Vance, as well as the popular vote, something that had not happened to the Democrats since 2004. To add insult to injury, they also lost in the county where Walz lived with his family for more than 20 years.

According to the 2020 census, Blue Earth County has a population of approximately 70,000, of which 82% are white, 5.6% African-American and 4.7% Hispanic. It is also a key part of Minnesota's 1st district in the House of Representatives, which Walz represented from 2007 through 2019.

When the votes were finished being counted, Blue Earth had voted in favor of Donald Trump with 49.3%, compared to 48.3% for the Democratic ticket.

Although Walz was born in Nebraska, he spent much of his life in this county. There he taught social studies and was a volunteer coach at Mankato West High School.

Minnesota and its ten electoral votes ultimately went to the Democrats. They prevailed by just over four percentage points, 51% to 47%, narrowing the gap by three points from 2020.

The North Star State has been in the habit of voting for Democrats for president for 52 years now. The last Republican candidate to win there was Richard Nixon, who won 51% of the vote to Democrat George McGovern's 46%.

The trend resisted turning the tide even in 1984, when every state voted for Ronald Reagan. Minnesota was the only exception along with Washington DC, which although is not a state has electoral college participation.

In December 1984 President Reagan was asked what he wanted as a Christmas present, to which he replied the following, "Well, Minnesota would have been nice."