MINNESOTA — Democrat Joe Biden is the projected winner of Minnesota’s 10 electoral votes, the Associated Press reports. Biden currently leads President Donald Trump in the state by about 10 percentage points; 1,184,898 votes to 960,809 votes.
MINNESOTA — President Donald Trump has made it his own personal mission to win the state of Minnesota’s 10 electoral votes on Election Day. Trump has been vocal about how close he came to winning Minnesota in 2016.
The Land of 10,000 Lakes hasn’t broken for a Republican presidential candidate since 1972, but Trump lost to Hillary Clinton by less than 45,000 votes in 2016.
Trump’s said in the past that “one more speech” would have made the difference in 2016. Since his election, the president has come to Minnesota more than a dozen times. Vice President Mike Pence, and Trump’s own children, have also made numerous trips to state on behalf of the 2020 campaign.
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Republican Donald Trump: 960,809 votes
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Democrat Joe Biden: 1,184,898 votes
Note: It’s unclear exactly when the unofficial vote count will be complete in Minnesota. “When citizens see that on election night we don’t have 100 percent of the results in, it is literally by design. This is the plan,” Secretary of State Steve Simon said in an online news conference in October.
“It’s not evidence that anyone is hiding or concealing or rigging or stealing. It’s evidence of the actual plan.”
So if all of the state’s races aren’t called by the end of the night, do not be alarmed or surprised.
Minnesota Democrats currently fill all statewide offices, including both Senate seats, the attorney general and the governorship. Republicans believe they can make gains in the state this fall.
Democrats aren’t taking the state for granted. Biden visited Minnesota once during the campaign, and Jill Biden has made two trips to the state. However, the Biden campaign appears to have little doubt the former vice president can carry the state Tuesday.
Patch will be bringing you live results for the presidential race in Minnesota. Check back here when polls close for links to our live updating results from election night.
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Minnesota was one of the key victories that launched Biden to victory during the Democratic presidential primary race, largely in part due to Sen. Amy Klobuchar’s endorsement just days before the state’s voters cast their ballots on Super Tuesday.
Trump’s COVID-19 case sparked concerns of spread at Minnesota rally
After Trump’s Sept. 18 rally in Duluth, the state’s Department of Health announced there was “potential risk” that the coronavirus was spread at a the speech and other events associated with the president in Minnesota.
The president, first lady Melania Trump and White House adviser Hope Hicks all tested positive for coronavirus in the days following the rally.
“Community transmission of COVID-19 was high in St. Louis County prior to this week’s rally, and people attending the rally may have been infectious without realizing it,” MDH said Friday.
Trump put Rep. Ilhan Omar, refugees at focus in Minnesota
At his last campaign rally in the state, Trump again went after one of his favorite targets. Trump attacked Rep. Ilhan Omar, accusing her of “corruption” and being “crooked,” and referenced unverified claims that she is connected to an illegal ballot harvesting scheme.
Trump also said Joe Biden would turn the state of Minnesota into a “refugee camp.” Trump’s remarks prompted rallygoers to chant “lock her up.”
Trump attacked Omar earlier in September during his rally in Bemidji, suggesting she wasn’t an American.
Omar, 37, came to the United States as a Somali refugee and became a U.S. citizen at the age of 17.
In 2018, she became the first Somali-American member of Congress. She also became one of the first two Muslim women to serve in Congress. She easily won her 2020 primary, despite a strong challenge from fellow Democrat Antone Melton-Meaux.
“I fled civil war when I was 8,” Omar responded to Trump on Twitter in September. “An 8-year-old doesn’t run a country even though you run our country like one.”
Firstly, this is my country & I am a member of the House that impeached you.Secondly, I fled civil war when I was 8. An 8-year-old doesn’t run a country even though you run our country like one. https://t.co/zcKKjdC8ju
— Ilhan Omar (@IlhanMN) September 23, 2020
The Council on American-Islamic Relations have condemned Trump’s comments as “racist and xenophobic.”
This article originally appeared on the Southwest Minneapolis Patch