Paul David Wellstone was an American academic, author, and politician who represented Minnesota in the United States Senate from 1991 until he was killed in a plane crash near Eveleth, Minnesota, in 2002. A member of the Democratic Party (DFL), Wellstone was a leader of the populist and progressive wings of the party.

The Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party (DFL) is a political party in the U.S. state of Minnesota. It is affiliated with the national Democratic Party. The DFL controls four of Minnesota's eight U.S. House seats, both of its U.S. Senate seats, the Minnesota House of Representatives and Senate, and all other statewide offices, including the governorship, making it the dominant party in the state. Its main political rival has been the Republican Party of Minnesota.