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The state organization was established in 1899, when the Kangaroo faction bolted from the Socialist Labor Party of America in support of the American Federation of Labor and opposition to the internal regime of the SLP under Daniel DeLeon. Its initial electoral appearances were unimpressive, but it began to grow rapidly after 1905, and eventually became, together with the organizations in Wisconsin, Oklahoma, Oregon, North Dakota, Washington, New York, etc., one of the Socialist Party's stronger state organizations—even to the point where, in 1912, half of all of the counties carried by Eugene V. Debs were in Minnesota. But, in spite—or perhaps because—of its rapid growth, the Socialist Party of Minnesota soon also became a heavily contested battlefield for factional disputes within the SPA. This culminated in the period of 1914 though 1919, in which the Socialist Party of Minnesota was decimated by conflicts rooted first in differences of opinion regarding the United States' entry into World War I, and later disagreements over the Bolshevism question following the Russian Revolution. In addition to tearing itself apart, the party was also affected by shifts in public opinion during the First Red Scare, which made it increasingly difficult for the Socialist Party to access an audience.
The Socialist Party of Minnesota continued to exist after 1920, but in a severely weakened state. Many of its former members, such as William Mahoney, Thomas E. Latimer, and Thomas Van Lear, became active in the Farmer-Labor Party of Minnesota, which the former Van Lear faction of the Socialist Party helped to solidify after Van Lear was expelled from the Socialist Party. The Socialist Party of Minnesota itself participated in the Farmer-Labor Party's electoral coalition in state politics from the early 1920s into the mid 1930s. Meanwhile, the state organization continued to achieve ballot access for Norman Thomas in 1928, 1932, 1936, 1940, 1944, and 1948, although it was not able to secure ballot access for Darlington Hoopes in 1952 and 1956.
The Minnesota organization continued to send delegates to the national conventions of the Socialist Party through the 1960s, until the Social Democrats, USA were formed in 1972. Afterward, the Socialist Party of Minnesota reorganized as a part of the Socialist Party USA, sending delegates to the SPUSA's reorganizing convention in 1973. As a unit of the SPUSA, the Socialist Party of Minnesota was able to secure presidential ballot access in Minnesota for Frank Zeidler in 1976 and again for David McReynolds in 1980; however, the organization essentially disappeared at some point prior to 1988.
Algernon Lee, politician, journalist and educator; prominent member of the Kangaroo faction of the SLP, editor of The Tocsin, and one of the founders of the Social Democratic Party of Minnesota; moved to New York City shortly thereafter, running for numerous public offices there
Anna A. Maley, political activist, journalist and educator; inaugural Secretary of Local Minneapolis; later went on to run for the office of Governor of Washington (becoming the first woman ever to run in a gubernatorial election in Washington), hold office as Chairwoman of the Woman's National Committee, become just the third woman ever to hold a seat on the National Executive Committee of the Socialist Party of America, and serve as an assistant to MinneapolisMayorThomas Van Lear
Yrjö Sirola, Finnish expatriate; served as Finnish Socialist Federation's Work People's College in Smithville from 1910 to 1913; antagonized factional disputes in the Finnish Socialist Federation, which tended to spill over into the Party itself; later returned to Finland where he was a founding member of the Communist Party of Finland
Carl Skoglund, who was prominent in the Left Section, a founding member of the Communist Party, embraced the views of Leon Trotsky, returned to the SPA after the Trotskyists were driven out of the Communist Party, and eventually became a founding member of the Socialist Workers Party
Includes only presidential tickets for which the Socialist Party of America or the Socialist Party USA had presidential ballot access in Minnesota. The Socialist Party of Minnesota failed to achieve ballot access for Darlington Hoopes and Samuel H. Friedman in 1952 and 1956. The Socialist Party did not nominate any tickets in 1960, 1964, 1968, or 1972. The Socialist Party USA has not achieved ballot access in Minnesota since 1980.
^ All candidates listed running in 1900 were running as candidates of the Social Democratic Party.
^ In the general elections of 1904, 1906, 1908, 1910, and 1912, the Socialist Party of Minnesota was, due to state law reserving the use of the word "Socialist" in ballot designations to the Socialist Labor Party, forced to use the ballot designation of "Public Ownership Party".
Richard Jones was elected to the Senate as a member of the Socialist Party, running with the endorsement of the Socialist Party. However, he was expelled from the party by referendum vote of the Socialist Party of St. Louis County before he took office, for "pandering to non-Socialist votes."
"Election Returns" (PDF). The Legislative Manual of the State of Minnesota Compiled for the Legislature of 1937. 1937. pp. 208–394.
^ Ross, Jack (15 April 2015). "Appendix B". The Socialist Party of America: A Complete History (illustrated ed.). U of Nebraska Press (published 2015). pp. 617–619. ISBN978-1612344911.
^ "Boylan, Michael "Mike"". Legislators Past & Present. Minnesota Legislative Reference Library. Retrieved 3 December 2016.
"Gardner, George H."Legislators Past & Present. Minnesota Legislative Reference Library. Retrieved 3 December 2016.
^ Hudelson, Richard; Ross, Carl (2006). "Chapter Three: Class Struggle and Ethnic Conflict". By the Ore Docks: A Working People's History of Duluth. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press. pp. 74–75. ISBN978-0-8166-4637-1. ... Indeed, by October 1914 the central committee of the St. Louis County Socialist Party, now firmly under the control of the left-wing Finns and Scandinavians, recommended that Richard Jones, elected to the Minnesota Legislature from Duluth as a Socialist, be expelled from the party for pandering to non-Socialist votes ...
"Jones, Richard". Legislators Past & Present. Minnesota Legislative Reference Library. Retrieved 4 December 2016.
"Boyd, John H."Legislators Past & Present. Minnesota Legislative Reference Library. Retrieved 3 December 2016.
"Hillman, Nels S. "N.S."". Legislators Past & Present. Minnesota Legislative Reference Library. Retrieved 3 December 2016.
^ "Strand, Ernest G."Legislators Past & Present. Minnesota Legislative Reference Library. Retrieved 3 December 2016.
"Woodfill, James W."Legislators Past & Present. Minnesota Legislative Reference Library. Retrieved 3 December 2016.
