Many observers may have been surprised that Bernie Sanders, a socialist, won primaries and caucuses in the prairie and plains states of Oklahoma, Kansas, and Nebraska (states that have all consistently voted Republican in recent presidential elections), as well as Minnesota and Colorado. Oklahoma, in its early years in the Union, was a center of Socialist Party strength. (3) These members came predominantly from Kansas, Nebraska, Minnesota and Colorado. Minnesota’s radical politics in the twentieth century centered on the Minnesota Farmer-Labor Party (FL). When one studies the history of the prairie and western states, one finds a rich tradition of agrarian radicalism and labor militancy.