Political routes: Along the river

A map of Minnesota Legislature districts in the southern two-thirds of the state

Since most political coverage leaves everyone endlessly spinning these days, I felt I should give the route of the new Borealis service (a path shared by the Empire Builder) the same treatment that I did for my previous article state following the routes of Amtrak, Northstar, and the future Northern Lights Express northwest toward St. Cloud / Fargo and north to Duluth, in order to help pull focus away from the usual political centers of gravity. The Borealis has been an instant success, and proves there's strong latent demand for intercity train service that's more frequent and more reliable, enhancing the ability to connect above and beyond what a single daily long-distance route can offer.

It's worth looking southeast along the route to see if there are offices where we can grow support for more service like this. While local transit gets the most focus among urbanists and city planners, I think supporting intercity links is an essential next step for rebuilding a system where people can live a more car-lite lifestyle.

Services like the Empire Builder and Borealis help bridge the urban-rural divide by connecting cities large and small together, and let people travel who would otherwise be unable to. Rail lines bring in people from many different places and backgrounds, and really helps foster the sense that we're all in this together, rather than the everyone-for-themselves mentality of traffic-clogged freeways.

Unfortunately, we've seen decades of obstruction from the Republican side of the aisle in our region and at the national level, either actively undermining support for train service, or slow-walking things so much that it hardly makes a difference. Democratic politicians (Democratic-Farmer-Labor in Minnesota) are doing far more of the heavy lifting on that front at the moment.

The Republican wave of 2010 tore through hopes of building a whole set of 110-mph routes around the country, including the 6 to 8 daily round-trips that were planned along this corridor. Today, House Republicans are trying to cut Amtrak funding again, and wiping out funding for new transit projects is on their wishlist if they attain full control of government.

Here in Minnesota, it took a DFL trifecta of holding the governorship and both houses of the legislature before the Northern Lights Express and the long-planned Borealis (a bit of a consolation prize after 110-mph plans were shelved) finally gained funding. Republican obstruction of any meaningful funding means the Borealis was at least a dozen years overdue, and we'll still be waiting for the NLX for several more years.

There are certainly some conservative politicians out there who see investing and enhancing this long-standing rail infrastructure as the fiscally and environmentally responsible thing to do, especially when it has high latent but unused capacity, but there are far fewer of them than there should be. When combined with other policies that are sowing division and tearing down the nation's fundamental principles right now, I can't in good conscience lend support to that side of the aisle, so I'll again be focusing on DFL candidates below.

Due to time limitations, I'm focusing again on Minnesota and U.S. House races, but please also take time to investigate county, city council, and other local races where you can. Easily look up a sample ballot via the Secretary of State.

Minnesota House districts

From St. Paul southeast along the river to La Crescent, we have Minnesota House districts 65B, 67B, 53B, 41B, 58B, 20A, 20B, 26A, and 26B. The districts in St. Paul, the inner suburbs, and Winona lean Democratic, while others have most recently had Republican legislators.

District	Cities	Cur. party	Incumbent	Preferred candidate	2022 margin
65B	St. Paul (station)	DFL	Maria Isa Pérez-Vega	Maria Isa Pérez-Vega	57.2%
67B¹	St. Paul	DFL	Jay Xiong	Jay Xiong	50.5%
53B¹	Newport, South St. Paul, Inver Grove Heights, Cottage Grove	DFL	Rick Hansen	Rick Hansen	8.8% to 15.1%
41B¹	Cottage Grove, Hastings	R	Shane Hudella²	Jen Fox	-2.1%
58B¹	Farmington, Hampton, Randolph	R	Pat Garofalo²	Ian English	-24.9%
20A	Red Wing (station), Lake City, Cannon Falls, Wabasha	R	Pam Altendorf	Heather Arndt	-3.7% to -14.2%
20B¹	Kellogg, St. Charles, Pine Island, Zumbrota	R	Steven Jacob	Michael Hutchinson	-32.3%
26A	Winona (station), Lewiston	DFL	Gene Pelowski, Jr.²	Sarah Kruger / Dwayne Voegeli³	10.2%
26B¹	La Crescent	R	Greg Davids	Allie Wolf⁴ / Eric Leitzen	-89.4%

¹District is along the rail line, but does not have stations
²Incumbents are retiring in districts 41B, 58B, and 26A
³No endorsement occurred in district 26A
⁴Allie Wolf is the endorsed candidate in 26B

In the first three districts, the incumbent DFLers are running again. District 65B represented by Maria Isa Pérez-Vega is home to St. Paul Union Depot, which could really use more trains to make it a more bustling place. Rails run through district 67B represented by Jay Xiong, although the potential for improved train service there is limited since the population is away from the rail line itself. This area will probably only ever see new train stations if the Red Rock Corridor is ever properly revived. (Quick Red Rock take: Transit often works best where there's a geographic constraint in the way, like a big river, and it's easy to feel that limitation in the area when driving down U.S. 61).

Rick Hansen's opposition in 2022 included a third-party candidate, so the lean of district 53B is a little bit up in the air. Cottage Grove had been floated as a potential intercity rail stop when 110-mph service was being discussed up until 2010–2011, and the area has potential for multiple stops if commuter/regional rail services start up on the line. If you have resources, helping Hansen keep his seat would be a good move.

District 41B had a narrow margin in 2022, and the current office-holder is retiring, so it's worth throwing some support behind Jen Fox to try and get her into office. This district covers another part of Cottage Grove, plus Hastings (where Fox is on the city council) is also a very good potential new stop, whether from Amtrak or on a commuter/regional rail line

The next district down, 58B, is probably difficult to pick up, but I hope Ian English gets a good shot at it, since Pat Garofalo is retiring. As a reminder of how many people have been misled by promises of technology that has yet to arrive, Garofalo had boasted about Tesla's self-driving capabilities way back in 2015 and used that as a cudgel against funding for transit projects. Nine years later, self-driving still has a long way to go, with cars still stymied by rain, snow, fog, and oddly, trains. One person almost rammed into the side of a moving one recently when the car was self-driving, while another got their Tesla to serve briefly as a rail vehicle when it inadvertently veered onto tracks at a low-angle crossing. I found a third set of bizarre interactions when looking for links to those.

Only a small part of 58B runs along the current Amtrak route, without any towns to serve as stops. However, I'd love to see that district flip since it's an area that could benefit from future suburban Twin Cities stations if new ones are added on the Amtrak route, if the Zip Rail corridor down to Rochester ever resumes planning, or if the Dan Patch line or other services southward from the Twin Cities pick up steam, since the western part of the district wraps around Northfield.

Red Wing is the largest city in district 20A, and has one of the existing stations on the line. It had been looked at as an endpoint for Red Rock commuter rail, and is likely to remain a stop on any future Amtrak service. Lake City has grown to over 5,000 people and is a strong candidate for another stop on either Amtrak or a commuter/regional route, and Wabasha is a bit smaller but is an appealing potential stop since it has a bridge across the river to Wisconsin. A third-party candidate ran in 2022 who took 10.5% of the vote, so Heather Arndt has a good chance to win.

District 20B is much more rural than the others so far. Kellogg is the biggest city on the route in the district, but it has less than 500 people, and is only about 6 miles from Wabasha. Other parts of the district might have other opportunities someday. I'd love to see passenger service on the DM&E / CPKC line that runs from Winona through Rochester and westward, which runs the district's biggest city of St. Charles. If Zip Rail ever comes back, I'd love to see Pine Island or Zumbrota get some slower local service someday, though it's more likely people would need to go a bit outside the district to reach stations in cities just outside its boundaries if services manage to grow. Michael Hutchinson is up for a challenge to be able to win the seat, but it would be nice if that can happen.

District 26A is centered around Winona, which has a station, and is currently the only DFL-held district along the tracks outside of the Twin Cities. Due to candidates being unable to reach the 60% threshold needed for endorsement in the party caucuses earlier this year, Sarah Kruger and Dwayne Voegeli are facing each other in the primary election, and I don't know who specifically to root for there. Early voting and vote-by-mail is happening now, and election day is August 13th. Winona has been the 2nd-busiest Amtrak stop in Minnesota after St. Paul, and of course would benefit from more trains per day.

The last state House district here is District 26B, which is the most rural. There wasn't a DFL candidate in the district in 2022, so it's hard to say how exactly how strong the political leanings are. The largest city appears to be La Crescent, across the river from La Crosse, with about 5,300 people. It's included in the La Crosse bus system, so added Amtrak service directly helps residents there. The western part of the district is south of Rochester, so anything that ever reaches that city would be the nearest option for people there. Allie Wolf is the endorsed DFL candidate here, and is likely to win the primary, although I feel like Eric Leitzen has a more fully-fledged campaign platform, even if it's just a set of bullet points on a simple Wordpress blog.

A map of routes included in the 2010 Minnesota Rail Plan, which is well behind schedule. There have been some modifications made in later versions, but goals have remained similar overall.

U.S. House districts

The Amtrak route toward Chicago runs through U.S. House districts 4, 2, and 1.

District	Cities	Cur. party	Incumbent	Preferred candidate	2022 margin
4	St. Paul (station), Woodbury, Maplewood, Roseville, Oakdale	DFL	Betty McCollum	Betty McCollum	35.3%
2	Lakeville, Eagan, Burnsville, Cottage Grove, Hastings	DFL	Angie Craig	Angie Craig / Marc Ives	2.0 to 5.3%
1	Red Wing (station), Winona (station), Rochester, Mankato, Owatonna	R	Brad Finstad	Rachel Bohman	-7.6% to -11.5%

Congressional District 4 includes St. Paul and a number of nearby suburbs. St. Paul Union Depot is a great resource, but it's deeply under-utilized, and should be a hub for many more trains. Betty McCollum is certain to win again, although I hope she's beginning to look at retiring to let someone new fill the seat in a few years, since she's been in office since 2001. It's a solid DFL district.

District 2 doesn't have any train stations, but has a number of opportunities if routes in the Minnesota State Rail Plan can get proper support to be studied and built in a timely manner. Additional service on the Amtrak route, southeast to Rochester, south toward Northfield/Owatonna/Des Moines, and southwest along the Mninesota River valley would all bring new stops to the region. Angie Craig is the endorsed candidate here, but I have to include Marc Ives as an option for the primary since he provides a relief valve for the angst around the Israel–Gaza war, and the utter lack of proportionality in response to the attack that set it off. But no, we would not be better off with either of her current Republican challengers in that seat, who both appear to be happier to punch down rather than up. This district is heavily targeted by outside groups, and will need support.

Finally, Rachel Bohman is running in the huge 1st Congressional District, which extends all the way across the southern end of the state to the border with South Dakota. It's home to the current Red Wing and Winona stations, and should someday have stations in Rochester, Owatonna, Mankato, and other cities along routes running south and southwest from the Twin Cities. This district has had similar geography through many election cycles, and has flipped between parties multiple times. Hopefully Rachel Bohman can gain the support she needs to flip it again.

Well, that's another one of these done. I wish I didn't have to write articles like this, but we're in a pretty dire situation if we don't have more people looking upward and forward to a better future. The Minnesota Department of Transportation funnels around $4.5 billion per year into streets, highways, and related activity, and support for rail—especially beyond the core of the Twin Cities—has been a faint shadow of that. Rebuilding the lost legacy of train travel that helped put cities on the map around here in the first place really should be on the path toward getting us out of our current divisive times.