Ghoti Ichthus
Genesis 18:32, 2 Chronicles 7:14, Acts 5:29
Sorry this is kind of jumbled up [sigh]
Minnesota has always been very liberal. Mostly Scandinavian and some German settlers, who brought Gospel teaching and preaching, socially liberal Lutheranism, which really drove the culture for a very long time, and there's still a lot of the values. "Minnesota nice" being one of them. Liberal politics reflected church values of loving and caring for neighbors, etc. Unfortunately, part of what came was secular humanism (Germany and some French) and liberal attitude toward sexuality (Sweden, Denmark, Norway). Many Jewish people here, too, with politically liberal views (many fleeing persecution from different countries). While I was growing up,it wasn't unusual to see Jewish people with Nazi tatoos on their arms (concentration camp survivors). Also largest urban Native American populationin the U.S., many Indian Reservations, etc., and the Native American heritage is public and respected here a lot more than elsewhere. With so many different cultures here, it's kind of like a mini NYC. For awhile,there was a store called the Minneapple, which sold Minneapolis/Minnesota stuff reflective of the Big Apple (NYC). Minnesota's the Land of 10,000 Lakes, 10,000 Political Parties, 10,0000 Protests, etc., and has always been very politically active and progressive. Much, much more, but I think enough to paint some of the cultural picture here.
Helping refugees and immigrants has been "a thing" here for a long time. My high school ended up having the Southeast Asian cultural center, where bilingual teachers and counselors helped kids from Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos during and after the Vietnam War. A lot of those kids and their families were sponsored by churches and NGOs, which caused some issues because the immigrant/refugee kids had new cars, etc., which they were given, and virtually none of the middle class kids in that area had (back then, kids got a job, saved money, bought a heap, and worked on it themselves until it was driveable); the area was middle and uppermiddle class, and Parents taught their kids they had to earn what they had. That attitude stills shows up in a lot of people keeping their cars here until they really have to replace. There's a very large Syrian population, that was established decades ago, people have been coming from Pakistan and India for a long time, and many Jewish people from "everywhere."
The Somalis and a lot of others were sent/brought here by President Obama and Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Services (LIRS). President Obama announced he was sending Somalis, etc. to places that were "too White," which also included North Dakota and Wisconsin. The Ethiopian and some other African Lutheran churches have been sending missionaries here to help the US Lutheran churches here evangelize because of the language and cultural issues. There are also some Christians among the African refugees, and they've been busy about The Lord's Work, as well. As muslims bexome Christians, some take it into their families and communities. Unfortunately, sharia in some families and trying to creep into communities and government (some successs).
Nice place, but a very strange mixture of cultures that quickly learn to be nice and help each other because of Old Man Winter, with all the snow, cold, ice, blizzards, etc, and the lessons are reinforced every year. Ditto that people from various places learn to get along by respecting each other's cultures and letting people do IAW his or her religion or culture, virtually always without judgement or fear (live and let live). So many refugees and immigrants with the past experience of religious, political, etc. persecution and having to start from pretty much nothing, and people and churches here helping, which creates a certain attitude congruent with Lutheran liberal social Gospel, helping, etc. and "knowing what it's like." So there are a LOT of distinct cultures and a LOT of cross-cutural learning and sharing, plus the shared experiences of winter, etc. in Minnesota.
Even today, over 20 percent of Minnesota is Lutheran (mostly extremely liberal ELCA) and it still exerts a strong influence on the culture. The traditional Native American cultures and large Native American population also exert strong influences on the culture. While the rest of the country is tearing down/renaming Native American places, Minnesota's renaming places with Native American names, returning to original Native American names for places, etc. Homosexual community here is large and exerts a lot of influence, and has for a very long time. All of this is reflected in extremely liberal politics and social policies. During Republican-won landslide elections, Minnesota and Washington DC (and once also Massachusetts) have been the lone DFL.
Minnesota has 10 different critical habitat license plates, which cost an additional $30 a year. That money is used for conservation of the habitat/endangered species. Minnesotans voted with our pocketbooks, and so much money was raised that the state had to put more money into the matching fund (for every $1 spent from the license plate money, $1 had to be spent from state revenue for specific conservation programs; an effort to change the law to $2/$1 failed miserably 
State budget can't be reduced for conservation to rely on the license plate money 
I have moose plates (they're endangered here 
The most recent critical habitat plate, pollinators, was added a couple years ago.
