John Morrissey is a freelance writer in Des Moines.

State Senator Michael Bousselot’s proposal that Iowa purchase the lower tier of counties in Minnesota sounds comical, at first blush. But President Donald Trump’s rumblings about purchasing Greenland and taking back the Panama Canal, along with observations about the artificiality of sovereign boundaries, may indicate a serious purpose.

Is there some partisan political mischief behind this proposal? And what sort of political goods are on offer that might make this worth pursuing?

WHO ARE THESE PROSPECTIVE IOWANS?

Nine counties make up the southern tier of Minnesota. They encompass 6,241 square miles of territory, just one percent of which is underwater, in the state of 10,000 lakes. The area was home to 186,924 people, as of the 2020 census. Most of the nine Minnesota counties are static or losing population, much like their neighboring counties south of the state line.

County Name	County Seat	Cong Dist	Total area (Sq Mi)	Density (Pop/Sq Mi)	2020 Population	Hispanic
Rock	Luverne	1	483	20.1	9,704	364
Nobles	Worthington	1	723	30.8	22,290	7,271
Jackson	Jackson	1	719	13.9	9,989	401
Martin	Fairmont	1	730	27.4	20,025	1,320
Faribault	Blue Earth	1	722	19.3	13,921	1,013
Freeborn	Albert Lea	1	722	42.8	30,895	3,183
Mower	Austin	1	712	56.3	40,029	5,081
Fillmore	Preston	1	862	24.6	21,228	341
Houston	Caledonia	1	569	33.1	18,843	243
TOTAL			6,241	30.0	186,924	19,217

As with the Iowa population, about half of the residents in the nine Minnesota counties are concentrated on the eastern side of the state. Sixty percent of the nine county population lives in the four counties west, but within 100 miles of, the Mighty Mississippi.

Just a few more than 19,000 people self-identified as Hispanic at the 2020 census. The U.S. Census estimates that 10,592 of the southern tier population are veterans. The area is home to more than 4,700 business establishments, employing almost 92,000 people with nearly 12,000 working for federal, state or local government entities. About 9.5 percent of the population, or 8,644 people, are self-employed.

The market value of agricultural products sold in the nine counties was just under $5 billion, according to the USDA 2022 Census of Agriculture. That bounty came from 8,114 farms holding 3.2 million acres of farmland.

The nine Minnesota counties are home to all or parts of 45 school districts. These Minnesotans live in 95 cities and towns, 69 unincorporated villages, and 172 townships. Each county has a Board of Commissioners, with 45 current office holders. The nine counties have 83,527 housing units, per estimates by the U.S. Census American Community Survey, made up by 76,231 households.

ELEPHANT STOMPING GROUNDS

All nine Minnesota counties on Bousselot’s shopping list are Republican strongholds. The tier is represented within a single congressional district, a seat held by Republican U.S. Representative Brad Finstad. Six Republicans represent the tier in the Minnesota House of Representatives, and four more Republicans have portions of the tier in their state Senate districts.

Vote counts from the 2024 presidential election show that 62 percent of the 97,000 votes cast in these counties were for the Republican candidate. Votes for Democrats trailed by significant margins in every county except Mower, which is home to Hormel Foods in Austin. The Republican margin was just 8 points in Mower county, compared to an average 24 point advantage in the other eight counties.

County Name	Registered Voters	GOP	DEM	Other	Total	Percent GOP
Rock	6,237	3,690	1,585	98	5,373	68.7%
Nobles	10,391	5,551	2,599	135	8,285	67.0%
Jackson	6,663	3,949	1,581	114	5,644	70.0%
Martin	12,867	7,442	3,171	183	10,796	68.9%
Faribault	9,168	5,247	2,352	162	7,761	67.6%
Freeborn	19,832	10,003	6,448	253	16,704	59.9%
Mower	23,690	10,297	8,312	360	18,969	54.3%
Fillmore	14,498	7,638	4,491	256	12,385	61.7%
Houston	13,281	6,547	4,667	214	11,428	57.3%
TOTAL	116,627	60,364	35,206	1,775	97,345	62.0%

The data geeks at GOP headquarters may be salivating over the prospect of adding nine more majority Republican counties to the Iowa roster, perhaps as an offset to the few blue counties that make Iowa legislative and Congressional races interesting. Perhaps those voters could build an insurmountable super-majority for Iowa Republicans.

The loss of nearly 200,000 people from the first Congressional district in Minnesota—about 25 percent of the typical U.S. House district—would likely result in redistricting brouhahas in both states. A Minnesota Senate district has an ideal population of about 85,000, with 67 seats available. The Minnesota House of Representatives has 134 seats. An ideal House district has about 42,586 residents.

SOUTH OF THE BORDER

The kissin’ cousin counties in Iowa have similar characteristics to their Minnesota counterparts. Eleven Iowa counties abut the state line. As of the 2020 census, 132,322 people lived in those counties, which cover 5,870 square miles.

As with their northern neighbors, Republicans cast the majority of votes in the 11 county tier. The margin was 6 points in Winneshiek County, but reached a dizzying 68-point advantage in Lyon County. Republicans in the northern tier garnered two-thirds of the votes in the 2024 Presidential election.

County Name	County Seat	Cong Dist	Total area (Sq Mi)	Density (Pop/Sq Mi)	2020 Population
Lyon	Rock Rapids	4	588	20.3	11,934
Osceola	Sibley	4	399	15.5	6,192
Dickinson	Spirit Lake	4	404	43.8	17,703
Emmet	Estherville	4	408	23.0	9,388
Kossuth	Algona	4	974	15.2	14,828
Winnebago	Forest City	4	402	26.6	10,679
Worth	Northwood	1	402	18.5	7,443
Mitchell	Osage	1	470	22.5	10,565
Howard	Cresco	1	474	20.0	9,469
Winneshiek	Decorah	1	690	29.1	20,070
Allamakee	Waukon	1	659	21.3	14,061
TOTAL			5,870	22.5	132,332

Unlike their neighbors to the north, the eleven Iowa counties in the state’s northern tier are represented by two U.S. House members, both Republicans. Representative Randy Feenstra (IA-04) has Lyon, Osceola, Dickinson, Emmet, Kossuth, and Winnebago counties. Representative Ashley Hinson (IA-02) has Worth, Mitchell, Howard, Winneshiek, and Allamakee.

A redistricting plan would not give Iowa an additional U.S. House seat, but would shuffle the deck for the four existing districts. Both of Iowa’s U.S. senators would probably benefit from the additional Republican strength in the bottom Minnesota tier.

Seven Republicans represent the upper tier counties in Iowa’s House of Representatives (map), and five Republicans have that responsibility in the Iowa Senate (map).

County Name	House Dist	Representative	Senate Dist	Senator
Lyon	4	Skyler Wheeler	2	Jeff Taylor
Osceola	5	Zach Dieken	3	Lynn Evans
Dickinson	10	John Wills	5	David Rowley
Emmet	9	Henry Stone	5	David Rowley
Kossuth	9 + 10	Henry Stone and John Wills	5	David Rowley
Winnebago	9	Henry Stone	5	David Rowley
Worth	60	Jane Bloomingdale	30	Doug Campbell
Mitchell	60	Jane Bloomingdale	30	Doug Campbell
Howard	63	Michael Bergan	32	Mike Klimesh
Winneshiek	63	Michael Bergan	32	Mike Klimesh
Allamakee	64	Jason Gearhart	32	Mike Klimesh

The demographics on either side of the state line are generally similar. About 25 percent of the population in all 20 counties are children under age 18, and another 19 percent are 65 or older. The population density in Minnesota is 30 per square mile, while an average 23 Iowans occupy a square mile in the northern tier. Per capita income for Minnesotans in the nine-county tier is $19,288 compared to $17,607 in Iowa.

In an odd twist, more Minnesotans in the southern tier live below the poverty level as a percentage of population (9.3 percent) than their Iowan counterparts (8.4 percent). That may have financial and service delivery implications for Medicaid funding and provision of other human services if these souls were added to Iowa’s caseloads. An estimated 11 percent of children in the Minnesota tier lives below the poverty line, compared to 9.7 percent in Iowa. About nine percent of adults age 65 or older in both states are below the poverty level.