Minneapolis is way cheaper too, which makes up for the cold, hell I'd take that over rain.
And more Republican? You are really splitting at hairs here. The Republican Party is completely meaningless in Minneapolis, they hold absolutely no influence whatsoever and have absolutely no chance of winning any elections no matter how minor. Hell the Green Party has had more electoral success in Minneapolis than the GOP.
Dude the suburbs of your city are massive fail!! Seattle is a pretty damn liberal city. Pretty sick place to be during the summer when they get "california weather" but just too much rain in the winter. My dad could barely take it when he worked there. He liked the snow days though since they are so rare and obviously a lot of fun. Unless you have to go to work....