Before the election this fall I noticed articles touting broadband as a bipartisan rural issue. Since the election I’ve started seeing articles promoting broadband as a Republican rural issue. I just ran into another one. MinnPost ran an article this week listing broadband as a Greater Minnesota wish list…

Republicans gained 11 seats in the House to take control; 10 of those were from outside the metro area.

The question is: will that translate into more state funding for high-speed broadband, job training programs, workforce housing and transportation upgrades?

Gary Evans, president of the Greater Minnesota Partnership, told the Rochester Post Bulletin:

“Greater Minnesota is where the [political] shift occurred, and I also think that that shift is somewhat directly proportional to a dissatisfaction in Greater Minnesota relative to the amount of money spent outside the metro area as opposed to inside it.”

Evans’ group, made up of state-wide businesses, chambers of commerce, cities and nonprofits wants the Legislature to expand high-speed broadband access, to the tune of $200 million.