ST. PAUL, Minn. – It may sound crazy, but State Representative Jeremy Munson insists his tongue isn’t in cheek. Munson introduced legislation to allow Minnesota counties to secede from the state and join border states. Munson tweeted a map showing an expanded South Dakota stretching all the way to Minneapolis suburbs. He is among outstate legislators who have grumbled forever that they’re outgunned in what they see as a two-state Minnesota political structure – the Sovereign State of Minneapolis-St. Paul versus everybody else. Munson, a Republican, is a two-term legislator from Lake Crystal, population 2,500 west of Mankato and 120 miles from the South Dakota border.
“Let my people go.” The scheme is to let Republican western Minnesota join Republican South Dakota. In effect, says solon Jeremy Munson, a Republican: “Let birds of a color flock together.” The idea is his. The map too.
Munson: His point: Heed the needs of us beyond the Twin Cities. His weapon: Self-determination.