This is more important than people realize, certainly more than Ted Wheeler showing his abject ignorance towards doing his job and protecting RainbowLand in a state that will likely stay blue. It's also more important than the Trafalgar poll which had
Biden barely beat out Trump by a few tenth percentage (
archive).
The Iron Range (also goes by Arrowhead Region) compose of Carlton County, St. Louis County, Lake County, and Cook County going clockwise around Lake Superior. While Cook County has occasionally voted for Republicans (as late as
2000 (
archive)), the former three are some of the most solid blue counties in the whole nation. Lake County last went for a Republican in
1932 (
archive) while Carlton and St. Louis County last went red in
1928 (
archive). Most people have lived and died with these three counties being Democratic.
They could also turn red. Carlton, St. Louis, and Lake County all became lighter shades of blue by double digits between
2012 (
archive) and
2016 (
archive) and while Cook County barely moved, the population is small enough to where a double digit shift that turns the county red is possible. With these endorsements, I expect at least two counties to flip red, which would be unprecedented and the rest to narrow their margin. If they all turned red, that would not shock me.
If Trump can flip these counties red, or at least get close, and make the Hennepin - county seat is Minneapolis - and Ramsey County - county seat is St. Paul - a lighter shade of blue, Minnesota will for the first time in 48 years turn red. Should Minnesota flip with a near double digit percentage that Iowa and Ohio did, it could be a light red state. More importantly, if Trump can somehow keep all of the Rust Belt states he won in 2016 and take the Iron Range, it will symbolize that the blue collar workers have moved to the Republican party, potentially realigning the Midwest except Illinois as a red stronghold.
I wanted Trump to make a strong ground game in Minnesota and I'm glad to see evidence of that. After winning the election, this is the second biggest prize for Trump because of what a Minnesota flip represents. I'd say that the odds are in his favor of taking the state and my next prediction map come September will reflect exactly that.