Minnesota Now and Then: Democratic National Conventions in 1984 and 2024 were momentous for women in politics

Minnesota Now

There’s a parallel between the Democratic National Conventions of 2024 and 1984. Forty years ago a Minnesota Democrat was at the top of a history-making presidential ticket. Former Minnesota Senator and U.S. Vice President Walter Mondale was running for president alongside

Geraldine Ferraro, a U.S. representative from New York — and the first woman nominated by a major party for VP. Hillary Clinton remembered that moment Monday night in a speech at this year’s DNC.

Clinton drew a line from former U.S. representative Shirley Chisholm’s 1972 run for president to Ferraro‘s bid for VP to her own historic race in 2016 against former President Donald Trump. And she expressed hope that Vice President Kamala Harris can become the first woman president.

In Minnesota, a Harris win would also mean Lieutenant Governor Peggy Flanagan would become the first Native American woman governor in the U.S. — and the first woman governor of Minnesota, period.

Every lieutenant governor since 1983 has been a woman, across Republican, Democrat, and Independent administrations, but none have held the top job. Ember Reichgott Junge has spent her life involved in Minnesota politics.

And she was also at the 1984 DNC as a young, Democratic state senator and a delegate for Minnesota. She joined MPR News host Cathy Wurzer to reflect on her time then — and the DNC now.