
Crazy Idea Or Not? Iowa Lawmaker Proposes Buying 9 Minnesota Counties
An Iowan Republican is making news after proposing that the farming state should purchase 9 Minnesota counties. The counties are all on the southern border of Minnesota.
Senator Mike Bousselot, a Republican from Ankeny, Iowa says the state should enter negotiations with Minnesota to purchase the counties because he believes that they can offer lower taxes to the residents in those farming counties, and also help with agricultural infrastructure.
Those counties include:
- Rock
- Nobles
- Jackson
- Martin
- Faribault
- Freeborn
- Mower
- Fillmore
- Worthington
"Make Minnesota Iowa Again'"
Michael Bousselot announced he's introducing the bill during the 2025 Land Investment Expo.
Mixed reactions to the unlikely acquisition.
Reading comments across social media platforms, it's surprising to see how many Minnesotans in the area are for joining Iowa.
The senator says that purchasing the counties would help with Minnesota's budget, and help both states in the end. Southern Minnesota counties share very similar values to Iowa, and also have the same industry: agriculture and farming.

Other Iowa lawmakers have voiced their support.
Minnesota would lose 180,000 residents to Iowa.
Approximately 180,000 residents are in those 9 counties. Reactions are mixed from many people, but I'm surprised to see how many Minnesotans have voiced their support, often citing that Minnesota doesn't care about their livelihood or interests.
I've lived in Northern Minnesota, Central Minnesota, Iowa, and in one of the proposed counties.
I grew up in Northern Minnesota and moved to the Twin Cities metro in college. After graduating, I got my first job in Martin County, right on the Iowa border. As a young man when I moved to Fairmont, Minnesota, I remember thinking, this is basically Iowa. I also spent a summer living on a farm in Kossuth County, Iowa. From a geographic and cultural perspective, there really isn't any difference across the border. I even remember joking 20 years ago that the southern border of Minnesota should just be Iowa.
Read More: Tiny Wisconsin Town Named One Of Best Places To Live In America
This is unlikely to happen because of the US Constitution.
So this is a really long shot because this would have to go through a ton of legal challenges. For one, a state can't just buy another state. It's written in the constitution. There would have to be amendments and a judicial overview, and is it really worth all of that? USA Today did a story on this highlighting the legal implications.
Next, the bill would have to go through the Iowa legislature and then the proposal would have to go to Minnesota. If Minnesota even agreed, it would be the first step in a long process in Washington, DC. As many people have pointed out - "Don't we have better things to worry about?"
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