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I grew up in Minnesota.

I grew up in a very liberal place.

I grew up in Minnesota, where we treasure our tradition of civic engagement - and our record of having the nation's highest voter participation.

I am a Minnesotan, and not just because I root for the Vikings and the Twins. I like the Minnesota-nice sensibility. I like the liberal tradition; I like the Hubert Humphrey tradition fighting for civil rights.

I know I have an awful lot to learn from the people of Minnesota.

I think that people always just assumed that I was a liberal because I came from Southeast Seattle.

I come from extremely liberal people, one of only 20 in Texas where I grew up.

I never felt like I belonged in Minnesota when I was growing up there. That's why I was out the door as soon as I turned 18.

For being in a place that's landlocked, Minnesotans have a real sense of the wider world. Teachers, friends, neighbors - everywhere I went in Minnesota, people put their heads up and looked out to the horizon.