Questions on the Dakotas

[Mississippi Political Freak]

Hi!  I'd like to raise a few questions on the politico-economical development trajectories of the Dakotas:

1. Why is South Dakota historically more Republican than North Dakota?

2. Why is the Scandinavian progressive heritage in North Dakota is steadily declining (with younger North Dakotan folks noticeably more pro-business and more Republican)?

3. Is the relative prosperity of South Dakota compared to  North Dakota due to its more pro-business heritage until the latter's rightward turn in the recent decades?

Hope that someone can provide insights into the above issues.  Thanks!

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

1. It is? The only time I can find when it was to any significant level was when FDR was running, in which case it appears to be because FDR was incredibly popular in the farmlands near Canada (for obvious reasons.) Of course South Dakota is also notoriously anti-incumbent (the opposite of Hawaii) so this probably isn't worth reading into.
2. Because the liberals from North Dakota (such as myself) all live in the Twin Cities now.a
3. It has nothing to do with heritage but rather that South Dakota got the idea of boosting its economy by becoming the new Delaware/Cayman Islands and is now full of banks and credit card companies that love its incredibly lax taxes and regulations on those industries. To some extent ND has decided follow suit. South Dakota also has some of the most expanded gambling in any state that isn't Nevada and North Dakota isn't quite on that level outside the Reservation casinos, though its gambling laws are still far more liberal than Minnesota's. My dad's job isn't legal in Minnesota. (Not that Minnesota isn't full of casinos of course, and will no doubt end up with more, expanding them is one of the few things Dayton and the legislative Republicans agree on.)

Seriously in South Dakota it's not uncommon to have slot machines in gas stations. I doubt that's common even in Nevada. You'd also have a tough time finding any bar or non-chain restaurant without slots and video poker machines.

[J.G.H.]

Seriously in South Dakota it's not uncommon to have slot machines in gas stations. I doubt that's common even in Nevada. You'd also have a tough time finding any bar or non-chain restaurant without slots and video poker machines.

Nope. Video lottery (encompassing poker, blackjack, keno, etc.) is everywhere, as you described, but slots are only available at Deadwood, Indian reservations, and a few scattered casinos elsewhere.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

OK that's what I was thinking of. I haven't really been to South Dakota in awhile (I drove through it back in May but for less than an hour.)

[cinyc]

3. Is the relative prosperity of South Dakota compared to  North Dakota due to its more pro-business heritage until the latter's rightward turn in the recent decades?

Assuming such a gap actually exists, I'm not sure how long the relative prosperity gap is going to last, given the vast discoveries of oil and gas in the Bakken formation of western North Dakota.  North Dakota has weathered the recession better than most states.

But I think your underlying assumption is already incorrect - 2009 median household income was higher in North Dakota than South Dakota.  South Dakota has more Indian Reservations - or at least more of the state's land seems to be on reservations than North Dakota.