During the 1930s, the Farmer-Labor Party had gained traction with radical platforms that challenged economic and social inequalities, backed by Governor Floyd B. Olson. However, by 1938, the party's influence waned due to internal conflicts and accusations of incompetence and corruption, leading to a loss in gubernatorial elections.
On April 15, 1944, the Farmer-Labor Party merged with the Democratic Party, forming the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party (DFL).[4] Leading the merger effort were Elmer Kelm, the head of the Minnesota Democratic Party and the founding chairman of the DFL; Elmer Benson, effectively the head of the Farmer–Labor Party by virtue of his leadership of its dominant left-wing faction; and rising star Hubert H. Humphrey, who chaired the Fusion Committee that accomplished the union and then went on to chair its first state convention.[5] This merger marked a pivotal shift influenced by academic liberals at the University of Minnesota who advocated for integrating the New Deal's progressive reforms within a more centralized, managerial political framework, transitioning from the movement-oriented politics of the Farmer-Labor party to a structure that emphasized interest-group pluralism.
During the post-war years, the DFL confronted various social issues, including antisemitism, which reflected broader national conversations about race and ethnicity. The DFL also navigated with its stance on civil rights and economic justice, influenced significantly by Minnesota's small but politically active African American communities. In early 1946, as a Fair Employment Practice (FEPC) bill was moving through Congress, there was a surge of civil rights activism in the Twin Cities. The focus on anti-black racism as the paramount racial issue, particularly evident in cultural tolerance programs of the time, often marginalized the experiences of other groups, including Jews. Initiatives like the "Races of Mankind" exhibit at the Walker Art Center, which promoted a simplified racial classification, inadvertently contributed to this narrowing of focus. These programs tended to reinforce a binary view of race relations centered on black and white dynamics, at times overshadowing the nuanced experiences of other racial and ethnic groups.
Yet, internal strife continued. Factional battles were intensified by differing views on how to address the left-wing influence within the party, with significant conflicts between proponents of Henry A. Wallace's progressive policies and the more moderate wing led by figures like Hubert Humphrey. By the party's second convention in 1946, tensions had re-emerged between members of the two former parties. While the majority of delegates supported left-wing policies, Humphrey managed to install a more conservative, anti-communist ally, Orville Freeman, as party secretary.[6] Some disaffected Farmer–Labor leaders such as Benson moved to the Progressive Party.[3] Freeman was elected the state's first DFL governor in 1954. Important members of the party have included Humphrey and Walter Mondale, who each went on to be United States senators, vice presidents of the United States, and unsuccessful Democratic nominees for president; Eugene McCarthy, a U.S. senator who ran for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1968 as an anti-Vietnam War candidate; and Paul Wellstone, a U.S. senator from 1991 to 2002 who became an icon of populistprogressivism.[7] The DFL has had varied success beginning in the late 1970s and through the late 2010s, in part due to the growth of single-issue splinter groups after reforms brought by the national party.[5]
After the 2022 Minnesota elections, the DFL became the dominant party in the state, retaining every executive office, winning majorities in the state House and Senate, and re-electing all incumbent Congressional Representatives. With their newly elected trifecta, the DFL pursued a progressive agenda in their first legislative session. Governor Tim Walz described the session as “the most successful legislative session, certainly in many of our lifetimes and maybe in Minnesota history.”[8] The newly elected government passed large expansions in welfare programs and spending. Notable policies passed include the expansion of abortion rights, new programs to provide reproductive healthcare, protection of gender affirming care,[9] the legalization of recreational cannabis, indexing education spending to inflation, investments in public transit, and paid sick leave for Minnesota workers.[9][10] Former President Barack Obama praised the state government's actions, saying that "Minnesota has made progress on a whole host of issues – from protecting abortion rights and new gun safety measures to expanding access to the ballot and reducing child poverty. These laws will make a real difference in the lives of Minnesotans."[11]
Party organization
The DFL is governed by a state central committee, which is composed of representatives from each of the state's congressional districts. The state central committee is responsible for setting the party's platform, electing party officers, and conducting other party business. The DFL also has a constitution and bylaws that govern its operations.[2]
Community caucuses
The party operates several community caucuses that organize and represent different communities within Minnesota that are not geographically defined.[12] These include the:
Delton, Jennifer A. Making Minnesota Liberal: Civil Rights and the Transformation of the Democratic Party. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2002.