Economically depressed, not too many youths (they escape to Minneapolis).
On this basis, I think Oberstar will fall...just outside the range of stolen elections.
Cheers!
I grew up there. Beautiful country. What caused me to leave was the union mentality from the mining industry corrodes society - anybody trying to achieve more or particularly smart is shunned.
Actually, MN-8 extends toward the Twin Cities quite a ways in addition to encompassing Duluth and much of the Iron Range. The southern half of the district is much more conservative and the northern half is filled with people who, in any other normal world, would vote Republican -- hunters and fiscally conservative people who have had Democrat marching orders for years because they are also highly unionized.