About Us - Blue North Beacon
Minnesota politics is in one of the most volatile and high-stakes cycles in a generation — an open governor’s race, a competitive U.S. Senate race, shifting coalitions in the suburbs and Greater Minnesota, and an open question of whether the DFL’s “One Minnesota” project can still hold together a state that is increasingly living in separate economic and cultural realities.
What’s missing right now is a space for candid, smart, evidence-driven, non-performative political news and analysis — one that is progressive in policy instincts but pragmatic about persuasion; attentive to urban equity movements AND increased costs for farmers AND Iron Range labor concerns.
Fluent in policy substance, candid about political dynamics, and certainly not allergic to the political art of (and need for) winning majorities. This substack is aimed at those who care more about winning coalitions than political dunking contests and for folks who still believe governing outcomes matter more than performance politics.
Minnesota has voted blue for decades — but it’s now governing in undeniably purple terrain, bordered by deep-red states and held together by coalitions that are shifting in ways the national media often overlooks. This substack exists to explore what still holds in that purple — and what doesn’t.
Jordan Hagert is the chief editor of Blue North Beacon. For two decades, Hagert has worked at the intersection of politics, policy, law, and advocacy—advising elected officials and candidates at the municipal, state, and federal levels.
Hagert’s experience spans Minnesota’s diverse political landscape, from Minneapolis City Hall to closely contested campaigns on the Iron Range, as well as presidential politics in Iowa and Washington, D.C. Along the way, he has developed strong relationships with policymakers, labor leaders, advocates, and political professionals across Minnesota and the country.
Hagert earned a bachelor’s degree in political science from Saint John’s University and a Juris Doctor from the University of St. Thomas School of Law. He has been licensed to practice law in Minnesota since 2020.
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