On November 6, 2012, Minnesota voters rejected a proposed amendment to the state’s constitution. Minnesota Amendment 1, also called the Minnesota Marriage Amendment, would have limited marriage to heterosexual couples. When the amendment failed to pass, Minnesota became the first and only state to reject a "same-sex marriage" ban through the will of voters rather than a court ruling.

Conservative lawyer John F. McGee was the dominant personality on the Minnesota Commission of Public Safety, the body that governed Minnesota during World War I. Under McGee’s leadership, the commission demanded unquestioning support for the war effort and suppressed possible German American dissent. After the war, McGee became a federal judge who was well known for the heavy sentences he imposed on bootleggers.