Minnesota Republicans face a challenge in their efforts to reclaim the reins of government in St. Paul this November. It’s tough to convince voters to change course when so many indicators are pointing in the right direction. From an economy that’s among the best in the country, to significant reinvestment in education, to a vastly improved state financial picture, Minnesota is doing remarkably well with the DFL in charge.

And it’s not a fluke— it’s a direct result of progressive policies that have proven successful time after time, and not just in Minnesota. In California, which was an economic basket case and a virtual failed state just a few years ago, a major revival is under way thanks to Democratic Gov. Jerry Brown and Democratic dominance of the Legislature there. Working together, Democrats in California closed a $25 billion budget deficit, improved the state’s credit rating, reinvested in education, and still enjoy a modest rainy day fund and a rapidly recovering economy.

Both Minnesota and California make a convincing argument against conservative supply-side economics, the discredited theory that suggests deep tax cuts for the wealthy and corporations are the path to economic recovery. The folly of such policies can be seen in Wisconsin and Kansas where Republican governors have embraced the belief that the key to business growth lies in slashing taxes, cutting education funding, and busting unions.

In Wisconsin, Gov.. Scott Walker promised such policies would produce 250,000 private-sector jobs in his first term. Instead, the state has added less than 90,000 jobs and ranks 34th in the nation for job creation.

The situation in Kansas, where Gov. Sam Brownback and a Republican Legislature doubled down on supply-side theory, the results are even more disappointing. Under Brownback’s direction, Kansas’s economy has grown at half the rate of its four neighboring states. In the meantime, the state’s poverty rate has risen, the state’s credit rating has been downgraded and it is grappling with a $300 million revenue shortfall.

Minnesota and California, by contrast, went in the opposite direction, opting to raise taxes on those who’ve reaped the lion’s share of new income in the current economic recovery, and investing that money in their citizens. While Republican Gov. Tim Pawlenty starved Minnesota schools and pushed college tuition to the highest in the country, the state’s schools today are back in the black with increases in the basic formula as well as new funding initiatives for all-day kindergarten and early childhood education. Public college tuition, which skyrocketed under Pawlenty, has held steady since the DFL took charge, thanks to higher state funding.

Republicans wailed that higher taxes would hurt the economy, but someone forgot to tell that to the business sector. Minnesota ranks among the top states in the nation for economic expansion, with private-sector job growth now surpassing pre-recession levels. In fact, Forbes rates Minnesota as the eighth-best state for business.

And gone are the days of lurching from one state fiscal crisis to the next. By restoring the state’s tax rates a bit closer to its pre-Pawlenty levels, the state has closed a structural deficit, rebuilt its rainy day accounts, and looks forward to balanced budgets as far as the eye can see.

By contrast, Walker’s strategy has limited Wisconsin’s ability to invest in the state’s infrastructure, including public education. He cut state funding in K-12 schools by more than 15 percent during his tenure. Per student, this was the seventh sharpest decline in the country.

Such case studies provide real data that shed light on the value of the two party’s respective approaches to governance.

Lawrence R. Jacobs, a professor of political science at the Humphrey School of Public Affairs, summed up his comparison of Wisconsin’s and Minnesota’s divergent policies in an opinion piece in the New York Times.

“Evidence and common sense should matter more in our overheated political debates,” wrote Jacobs. “The lesson from the upper Midwest is that rigid anti-tax dogma fails to deliver a convincing optimistic vision that widens economic opportunity and security. The excesses of liberalism may lurk, but Minnesota is building a modern progressivism that plows a hopeful path.”

Republicans, in contrast, propose only a repeat of failed policies that have crippled Wisconsin and Kansas, and that previously left Minnesota struggling under Gov. Pawlenty. It’s hard to imagine that Minnesota voters will take them up on the offer.

Under the DFL, Minnesota is finally back on track. We hope voters will choose to keep it that way.