Farmers grow sugar beets around Moorhead in the Red River Valley, which has some of the 7th's most fertile farmland. The Red River flood in 1997 capped nearly a decade of agricultural struggle in the rural northwestern third of Minnesota. Floods, drought, crop disease, diminishing federal safety nets and crop devaluation fatigued an already struggling economy. Although the 7th's light manufacturing and community colleges helped stabilize the situation, tourism and American Indian reservation gaming suffered when farmers could no longer afford the area's lake vacations or video slot machines. Although a Democrat has held the congressional seat since 1990, the 7th has been one of the state's most politically marginal districts.
Residents tend to be socially conservative and fiscally moderate.