The Rise Of The Midwest Princess: How Tim Walz’ VP Campaign Is Shining A Light On the Midwest
So, here’s the breakdown–I talked to Midwesterners about their regional favorites.
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This year, a curly haired redhead from the Midwest took the music industry by storm. Complete with creative drag costumes onstage, audience participation dance moves, and a vast vocal range, Chappell Roan’s rise came while on tour with Olivia Rodrigo.
Amid a second chance record deal that allowed her to collaborate with Dan Nigro on her debut album after being dropped from Atlantic Records in 2020, Roan’s Midwestern childhood became linked with her entire image. The debut album in question is the chart topping “The Rise And Fall Of A Midwest Princess,” which largely described Roan’s own coming out journey, and how she managed to pay homage to her rural roots while championing queer liberation.
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This album brought a new visibility to the Midwest, a region shrouded by mystery and stereotypes to coastal folk, that continues to come in handy amid the rise of Vice President hopeful Tim Walz, Kamala Harris’ new running mate. Walz, the Governor of Minnesota, was raised in Nebraska, and is among several progressive Democrats in the region.
Governor Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan, Senator Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, Governor Laura Kelly of Kansas, and more have all worked to protect women’s reproductive rights, transgender rights, and inclusive education in public schools. Walz’ state of Minnesota leaned 52% blue in 2020, according to Politico.
The New Republic reported that a major deciding factor across Midwestern politics is a politician's attitude towards labor union workers. This could spell good news for Harris Walz, given the latter’s excellent track record on union legislation and his own history as a public school history teacher.
The notion that progressive ideals continue to reclaim rural regions that many assumed were lost to the Trump administration hit when the Harris Walz campaign debuted perhaps their smartest campaign move yet–a camouflage style baseball hunting cap emblazoned with “Harris Walz” in bright orange.
Just months ago, Roan herself produced a similar merch item featuring her album reference “Midwest Princess.” Hunting gear, camouflage, and rural roots have become stereotypically synonymous with conservatism in the years following the Trump administration. Now, rural residents are reclaiming these items and concepts for new progressive causes.
I talked to Midwestern natives and residents to learn more about the culture of one of America’s most misunderstood regions. Ahead of the upcoming Presidential Election, coastal voters continue to take to social media to express curiosity in the region that has the potential to produce America’s next Vice President.
The Midwest in Media
Particularly beginning in the 1980s, the Midwest was depicted across mainstream media as an idyllic landscape for the middle class American family. Films like “Planes, Trains, and Automobiles” saw Steve Martin return home to his wife and children in a humble yet elegant two story home after his arduous journey home for the holidays.
Most famous are John Hughes’ many brat pack films, including “The Breakfast Club,” “Sixteen Candles,” and “Pretty in Pink,” which brought to light the trials and tribulations of the American teenager. “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off,” “My Best Friend’s Wedding,” and “While You Were Sleeping”, are all popular coming-of-age and rom-com films set in Chicago. But as the age of the internet dawned, rural and suburban Midwestern media grew hazy in Hollywood’s vision, with many popular productions shifting youth centered television and film focus to coastal and southern communities (think “One Tree Hill,” “The OC,” “Gossip Girl,” “The Vampire Diaries,” and more).
By the mid 2010s, the Midwest started to find representation in the media again. John Green’s 2014 “The Fault in Our Stars” became a major motion picture adaptation, and was set in the author’s native Indiana. “The Middle” became a wildly popular heartwarming comedy on ABC, and “Parks and Recreation” starring Amy Poehler picked up a number of Emmy awards throughout its seven season run.
Kathleen Nolan, who grew up in suburban Illinois, felt especially seen by “The Middle.”
“It really reflects my experience growing up in a middle class family in a Midwestern suburb. The way they talk about money, interact with their neighbors, and prioritize family feels very real to me,” said Nolan.
Notably, VP hopeful Walz worked as a public school teacher for decades before his career in politics. Nolan feels that this background is what makes him feel like a relatable option for voters. “One of the reasons I really like Tim Walz is because he could literally be a character on ‘The Middle’. He’s funny and approachable, but clearly takes his job very seriously. He seems more in-touch with the middle class than most politicians are right now—easily more than Trump and Vance.”
The Midwest In Music
Of course, coastal listeners now associate the newly minted Chappell Roan with the Midwest. But for decades, the Midwest has actually served as a hub of a wide array of musical genres. The Motown record label, started in Detroit, Michigan, established a unique sound that would launch the careers of a number of legendary Black artists across R&B and pop music, from Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye, and Smokey Robinson to the Jackson Five.
Outside of major cities, a number of rock subgenres sprouting from small communities have reached mainstream success over the past decade. Midwest emo is a subgenre of emo music that explores themes of growing pains and small town life, featuring singers that often sing in a specific regional accent that critics continue to dub “the emo accent.” These songs are known for wordy spoken poetry intros and bass heavy rock. Modern Baseball and the Get Up Kids both achieved mainstream success in the 2000s and 2010s, the latter due to their song “Overdue” being featured on the CW hit drama “One Tree Hill.”
Meanwhile in Frankenmuth, Michigan, Grammy winners Greta Van Fleet formed a rock band that would channel the psychedelia of the 1970s into a fresh modern sound. Known for their energetic live performances and nostalgic on stage outfits, Greta Van Fleet revived a sound that the music industry had not heard for years.
The Midwest is also home to a number of unique alternative and folk artists, most famously Bon Iver of Wisconsin (who is scheduled to perform at a Harris Walz rally in his home state) and the acclaimed Sufjan Stevens of Michigan, whose music soundtracked pivotal scenes in the Oscar winning film “Call Me By Your Name.” Legendary rock band the Smashing Pumpkins additionally hail from Chicago, and the list goes on.
The Midwest In Food And Culture
When it comes to Midwestern culture, Nolan emphasized the importance of being neighborly, and always offering up a casserole as a guest. “My favorite homemade Midwestern dish is cornbread casserole. We have it at every holiday meal and it’s one of my favorite comfort foods,” said Nolan.
Helping your neighbors, whether through hard times or through offering a home made dish, is a hallmark of the Midwestern way of life. Nolan reflected, “I think that people underestimate the sense of community in the Midwest. It really is a lot of cornfields, strip malls, farms, and suburbs. We don’t have an ocean, we don’t really have mountains, we have miserable winters and hot, humid summers. It makes people very resilient.”
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“The stereotypical Midwestern persona—kind, generous, and sometimes overly accommodating—really comes from that. In my experience, relying on your community is part of life, and people take their responsibilities to each other seriously.”
Cate Hayes, a Pennsylvania native who moved to Michigan after college, felt pleasantly surprised at the change of pace she experienced. “I love that overall people are more friendly and more willing to have small talk with strangers or say hi to people in passing,” said Hayes.
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“Something I feel like has really hindered American culture is our hyper-individualism and the idea that asking for help is a weakness. There is more of a sense of community in the Midwest than on the east coast. After growing up in Pennsylvania and going to college in Boston, living in suburban Michigan is definitely a change, but I also really enjoy the more relaxed pace that the Midwest offers.”
On her favorite Midwestern delicacy, Hayes is “tied between Detroit style pizza and fried cheese curds.”
Now that Hayes has experienced the Midwest herself, she has hopes that Walz’ VP candidacy can bring new exposure to the region and their ways of life to the rest of the nation.
“I hope that we can get back to a sense of community in America that the Midwest culture embraces. There’s definitely something to be said about finding and expressing your individuality that I loved about living on the east coast, but I think we’ve taken this mindset too far, especially in the years following the pandemic,” said Hayes.
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“I often feel that there’s a lack of empathy and caring for neighbors and communities that makes it difficult to meet and connect with new people, which further fuels our divide. I really hope that America can heal with some Midwestern friendliness, patience, and optimism.”
More information on the Harris Walz campaign can be found here. With the power of friendly neighbors, a good casserole, and cat photos, Tim Walz may have just brought a whole new demographic of voters to the polls, proving that maybe all that Washington needed was a Midwest Princess.