1980s
1984 election
1988 election
1992 election
A01=Cory Haala
abortion
Author_Cory Haala
Bill Clinton
campaigns
Category=JPA
Category=NHK
Category=WQH
deindustrialization
Democratic Party
Eighties
elections
eq_bestseller
eq_history
eq_isMigrated=1
eq_isMigrated=2
eq_new_release
eq_nobargain
eq_non-fiction
eq_society-politics
Farm Bill
Farm Crisis
Farmer-Labor Party
feminism
free trade
George H. W. Bush
history of Midwestern politics
Iowa
Jesse Jackson
labor
Michael Dukakis
Midwest
Minnesota
neoliberalism
North Dakota
organizing
party politics
party-building
political histories
political issues
populism
populist
Populist Party
presidential elections
presidential primaries
progressivism
race
racial
Rainbow Coalition
Ross Perot
solidarity
South Dakota
state politics
twentieth century
voter registration
Walter Mondale
Wisconsin
working class
Product details
- ISBN 9780252089176
- Weight: 594g
- Dimensions: 156 x 235mm
- Publication Date: 14 Apr 2026
- Publisher: University of Illinois Press
- Publication City/Country: US
- Product Form: Paperback
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In the 1980s, the Midwestern economic collapse caused by the farm crisis and deindustrialization inspired the region's liberal politicians to call on progressive populist traditions to rebuild local, state, and national Democratic parties. Cory Haala looks at the Midwest's central role in asserting an updated populism wielded by grassroots activists, politicians, and a wide-ranging coalition of voters to counter Reagan-era conservativism.
This left-oriented movement resurrected the imagery and policies of twentieth-century radical parties like the Minnesota Farmer-Labor Party and Robert La Follette's Wisconsin Idea. Delving into progressive populist ideas and tactics, Haala illuminates the work of the activists and politicians who led protests, founded a congressional caucus, and backed presidential campaigns that sought to advance their cause. Haala's account moves from Iron Range union halls to Iowa farmhouses to South Dakota reservations to revise views of Democratic Party history, the Midwest's political culture, and populism's role in US politics.
A counter to established political narratives, When Democrats Won the Heartland takes readers into the history of an unexpected political moment.
This left-oriented movement resurrected the imagery and policies of twentieth-century radical parties like the Minnesota Farmer-Labor Party and Robert La Follette's Wisconsin Idea. Delving into progressive populist ideas and tactics, Haala illuminates the work of the activists and politicians who led protests, founded a congressional caucus, and backed presidential campaigns that sought to advance their cause. Haala's account moves from Iron Range union halls to Iowa farmhouses to South Dakota reservations to revise views of Democratic Party history, the Midwest's political culture, and populism's role in US politics.
A counter to established political narratives, When Democrats Won the Heartland takes readers into the history of an unexpected political moment.
Cory Haala is an assistant professor of history and the Museum Studies Coordinator at the University of Wisconsin–Stevens Point.
