History of Politics at the State Fair

“This was in relation to future relations with Latin America.  He was very well received although people didn’t expect necessarily to like Teddy Roosevelt they really enjoyed his speech.  Then just four days later President McKinley was shot at the Pan-American exposition in Buffalo, New York so Teddy Roosevelt became president.”

Roosevelt returned to the fair in 1910 and again in 1912 and always received a warm welcome, other politicians did not fare as well in front of the crowd.

“Calvin Coolidge, Vice President at the time, came to the Minnesota State fair September 6, 1922 and he also gave a speech at the grandstand.  It wasn’t nearly as well received as Teddy Roosevelt’s though.  It was about a 98 degree day and everybody was waiting for the big auto races.  He still had numerous pages of his speech left but kids in the back started clapping a little bit sarcastically and then the whole audience started clapping.  Their was a little bit of silence and the Vice President kept talking, there was still more clapping and pretty soon it was over the top – clapping, stomping, and cat calling.  Then the Vice President realized he needed to cut his speech short so he removed the rest of his pages and read the last paragraph and got a standing ovation for it,” said Huber.

The fair was cancelled in 1945 and 46, first due to a fuel shortage after World War II and then due to the polio outbreak. When the fair resumed in 1947 it was heralded as the victory fair and the marquee visit was from Dwight Eisenhower.

“When he came to the State Fair in 1947 it was a big deal because the war ended and everything was still about the war and just celebrating that we won so was here.  Not only did he parade around in an open car but their is a photo of him drinking a malt from the dairy building and in fact this was the first State Fair he ever attended and he said for this State Fair to by my first I might as well go to the best,” said Huber.

The State Fair used to be one of the only ways for voters to get to know candidates. Today, some voters would probably contend that they know too much about the candidates. But the major and minor parties still count on the fair each year to help them get their message out to the masses.

“It’s the raw numbers,” said Republican Party of Minnesota Chair Keith Downey. “Name a place you can go and reach 100,000 people in a single day.  We will literally have 100 to 200,000 people come through these state fairgrounds everyday for twelve days in a row.”

Of course both the Democrats and the Republicans will tell you that the excitement for their candidates is the best they have ever seen.

“We see this as our main visibility campaign,” said MN DFL Party Affairs Director Vicki Wright. “What this does is allow us to present a unified message and show all of our statewide candidates as well as our congressional candidates.  Really give our people a gathering place, especially when their is a lot of enthusiasm for the upcoming election.  Right before Labor Day people really start paying attention to politics so it’s a perfect time to present what we have to offer and get our message out there.”

From Teddy Roosevelt having his likeness carved out of butter to Bob Dole eating a cheese curd and Al Gore speaking up on machinery hill. The State Fair has always embraced politics in an unconventional way. But, it has help thousands of Minnesotans prepare to vote each November.