My two cents: I think Iowa, Minnesota and Wisconsin are similar in Midwestern Popularism, but most notable in Minnesota. Not only do you get Walz as governor, but Jesse Ventura 20 years ago. The Dems in Minnesota are officially called DFL : “Democratic - farm - labor”. But, a lot of the same feel in parts of Iowa and Wisconsin, then lesser so as you get into Nebraska, Kansas… But over the last 30 years, national politics has preempted state politics. There used to be prolife Dems in Nebraska who could win elections. Now, there aren’t any left and they wouldn’t win elections if they did exist. The Obamacare vote doomed the last Nebraskan Senator. The “all politics is local” isn’t really true anymore in the age of syndicated talk radio and cable news. I think over the last 10 years you are seeing a resurgence of more progressive, common sense movements as a reaction to complete Republican dominance and overreach in places like Kansas, Oklahoma, and Nebraska. Hopefully that grows.