In recent decades, many Minnesota cities have seen an influx of immigrants, many of whom fled war and instability in their home countries or came to the United States for economic opportunity.
In some of those cities, people with those backgrounds are now running for local office.
In Austin, a city of about 26,000 people in Mower County, immigrants make up roughly 16% of the population. That percentage has grown since 2015 when foreign-born residents made up around 7% of the city’s population.
As a result, people with those backgrounds are now becoming more civically engaged and running for local offices. This year, in the City Council election, immigrants held a front-and-center role, with two of four candidates in the primary having been born outside the U.S.
Getting involved locally
Miguel Garate is one of the City Council candidates who made it through the primary and is hopeful about getting elected Nov. 5.
Garate has been in Austin since 1997 and is originally from a town in Mexico close to the Texas border. He’s been involved in the local community for years, through various avenues like the city’s orchestra and its Human Rights Commission.
People who become civically engaged are often those who have been here for a while or are second-generation immigrants, said Dan Mueller, who’s involved with the GOP in Mower County and has worked with various immigrant and refugee communities.
“I think for most people, it takes a while for them to get involved. Their time is often [spent] on just work, work, work, initially,” he said. “The second generation tends to be the one that gets a little bit more involved.”
According to U.S. Census estimates of Austin’s 4,215 foreign born residents, roughly 46% are Latin American, 34% are Asian and 16% are African.
Despite the city having such a large Latino community, there hasn’t been representation on that end, Garate said. In 2020, Austin elected Oballa Oballa, a refugee from Ethiopia, to its City Council, but he wasn’t reelected in 2022.
“In the past, it was no one of color,” Garate said of the City Council. “They (Latinos) really want to see someone of color in this job.”
A new generation
More than 100 miles west, in Worthington – a community that’s had a similar wave of immigration – Eugenio Lopez is a recently turned 21-year-old running for the City Council.
Lopez was born in Mississippi to parents who had immigrated from Guatemala in the late 1990s. Shortly after he was born, his family moved to Worthington, where he’s lived ever since.
Austin and Worthington both have meatpacking plants, which drew many immigrants, along with the agriculture in the area, he said. In Worthington, that was the JBS pork processing plant, which shut down in 2020.
“Many families already set roots here, already had children here, so when immigrants arrived, they had families here in Worthington,” Lopez said.
According to the U.S. Census, 28.5% of Worthington’s population was born outside the U.S.
Lopez said he wants to give back to the community that helped shape him and represent the people who have similar backgrounds as him.
“I ran because many of my friends and local youth members were leaving Worthington because they don’t see Worthington as (having) potential to start a career here, or raise a family, or just see any potential here,” he said.
Fluid political views
Garate said one of the most important topics for Latino immigrants is immigration, a topic through which both parties try to reach Latinos.
“Every four years, they start talking about immigration. But as soon as we get a president, they forget about it,” he said. “You want to reach the Latino vote? Talk about immigration and then you will have their vote.”
Lopez said in prior years, Latino immigrants had been promised immigration reform from the Democratic Party, but some have been turned off by the party when those promises aren’t kept on a national level.
This election, Lopez said he hasn’t seen both parties reach out that much, although he said from his experience living in Worthington, the DFL does more outreach, like door knocking and phone banking. Garate said he’s seen the DFL out campaigning with flyers in English and Spanish in many southern parts of the state.
Lopez, who grew up in a Catholic family, was recently a delegate at the Democratic National Committee. While his political beliefs align with the Democratic Party, he sees how the Republicans are able to draw in votes from immigrants, too.
“Christianity, it’s a huge part of immigrants, regardless of where they come from,” he said.
For that reason, despite some of the anti-immigrant sentiment from Donald Trump, Lopez said many immigrants look at things like abortion when casting a ballot.
“That’s where some Latinos support Republicans,” he said.
Seeing more red
While Austin and Mower County lean Democratic, the margin of victory among DFLers has narrowed over the years.
He said the DFL “trifecta” in Minnesota — Democratic control of the House, Senate and governorship — has had positive impacts for immigrants in Worthington, like legislation allowing undocumented people to get driver’s licenses. At the same time, he said people are struggling with inflation and the affordability of goods and housing.
Mueller said the GOP in Austin has good connections with immigrant communities. His wife, Patricia Mueller, is the state representative for District 23B, which includes Austin and parts of Freeborn, Mower and Steele Counties.
He and his wife lived in China for some time, and when they moved to the Austin area around ten years ago, he worked with community leaders from refugee communities, helping people with housing, employment and adjustment to life in the U.S., among other needs. From his experiences talking with refugees and immigrants, he said economics is top of mind.
He’s involved with the Mower County GOP and does outreach with cultural groups, often attending multicultural events, speaking to people about the issues they’re facing and the values of both parties, he said. He said there’s been a shift where some rural communities no longer identify with the Democratic Party.
“When they look at the two sides, oftentimes they see a drastic difference between what the two sides stand for,” Mueller said. “I see a certain difference … Seeing that red come into areas that have traditionally been Democrat strongholds.”
Ava Kian
Ava Kian is MinnPost's Greater Minnesota reporter. Follow her on Twitter @kian_ava or email her at akian@minnpost.com.
