With control of both the House and the Senate in play on Election Day 2018, one unlikely state could prove pivotal: Minnesota. Known as a stubbornly Democratic state—Minnesota hasn’t voted Republican in a presidential election since 1972—it is sometimes written off by Republicans. The state has produced a roster of famously progressive politicians, from Hubert Humphrey and Walter Mondale to Paul Wellstone and Keith Ellison.

Also Al Franken. When he resigned his Senate seat last year after being caught up in the #MeToo movement, Democratic Gov. Mark Dayton appointed his own lieutenant governor, Tina Smith, to fill the seat. Smith is now running in a special election to retain it for the remainder of what would have been Franken’s term.

Despite having been elected statewide, Smith was relatively unknown in Minnesota. She spent most of her career working behind the scenes as a Planned Parenthood executive and as a staffer for various Democratic politicians.

Because of Franken’s resignation, Minnesota is in the rare position of having two Senate elections going on simultaneously. In addition, the state features several competitive House races, in which the GOP hopes to net a two-seat pickup, as well as a hotly contested gubernatorial election. So Minnesota will be in the eye of the hurricane in November.

National attention was slow to focus on the state’s key role in this year’s elections. The House races broke through first, as commentators realized that Minnesota—home to three of the few rural House districts still in Democratic hands—was likely to flip at least two, making the Democrats’ path to the House majority tougher.

More recently, pundits belatedly realized that Minnesota also features a competitive, and highly interesting, Senate race, even though the state last elected a Republican senator in 2002. Incumbent Democratic Sen. Amy Klobuchar is comfortably ahead of state Sen. Jim Newberger. But in a year in which female candidates have shown staying power, Tina Smith has drawn a woman as her election opponent. And this particular woman, state Sen. Karin Housley, is well-known statewide.

As a state legislator representing the eastern part of the Twin Cities region, she has a track record in the Minnesota Senate of working with Democrats on a host of issues ranging from aging care to opioid addiction.

In this hockey-mad state, Housley begins the general election campaign with another advantage: Her husband is perhaps the best hockey player ever to come out of Minnesota. Phil Housley was drafted as a high school star by the Buffalo Sabres. Skipping college, he went straight to the National Hockey League at age 18. He played in the NHL for more than 20 years, and in 2015 was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame as one of the sport’s all-time great defensemen. He is currently the head coach of the Buffalo Sabres and is campaigning with his wife during the off-season.

Another contrast between Smith and Housley (pictured) is their campaign styles. Having spent her career off-stage as a party operative, Smith has proven herself to be a fundraising juggernaut. The Minneapolis Star Tribune has written admiringly of the “Smith money machine,” which has raked in $4.5 million to date, far outpacing Housley’s $1.7 million.

Smith used much of this money on television ads during the primary season to dispense with Richard Painter, a lawyer and television talking head who was chief ethics officer in George W. Bush’s White House.

Partly out of necessity, Housley has been engaged in energetic retail campaigning. It seems to be paying off: The latest poll data show her closing what was once a 14-point gap to only four points -- before Labor Day officially kicks off the campaign season.

These two candidates don’t agree on a lot, but they do agree on this much: having two women vie for the Senate seat changes the dynamics of the race.

“It’s inspiring for all young women out there that they can make a difference,” said Housley.

Smith echoed this point. “It is a year when women feel particularly enthusiastic about stepping into the public arena,” she told a local newspaper, “and I think that’s a good thing.”