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If you look at color-coded maps of Maple Grove from recent elections, it doesn't exactly look like fertile ground for progressive DFLers.
That isn't stopping David Hoden and Katie Rodriguez.
Hoden and Rodriguez are taking on entrenched incumbents in the area's two State House districts (32A and 32B, respectively). Hoden faces Republican Joyce Peppin, who won 66% of the vote in 2008 in a district that sent 57% of its votes for John McCain in last year's presidential race. Rodriguez is taking on Kurt Zellers in 32B, which was an even split in the presidential race, but gave Norm Coleman a 12-point margin and reelected Zellers with 53% of the vote.
On the face of the numbers, it seems like Rodriguez has a better shot at flipping her district than Hoden does his. Rodriguez is a well-known DFL activist in the area, and has done a lot over the past four years to expand the DFL base in the northwest Metro. Hoden, however, appears to be taking a slightly different tack: I've spoken to several folks in the area, and while Rodriguez brings solid party credentials to her race, Hoden sounds like he knows and is well-known by everyone who's anyone in his community -- church, the school system, the small business community.
With both campaigns having kicked off in the past week, it seems we could be in for a very interesting ride in the march toward 91 veto-proof votes in the State House.
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