Though Election Day had Minnesota bucking the norm in some ways, like re-electing Democrats Gov. Mark Dayton and Sen. Al Franken, there were great shifts in power at both the state and national levels.

Republicans took control of the Minnesota House and the national Senate and strengthened their grip on the U.S. House.

With this shift in power comes the possibility of gridlock, especially if the party platforms of many Republicans become reality. New Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., recently stated that just because the United States has a polarized political system with two main parties “doesn’t mean we have to be in perpetual conflict.” However, he also promised to lead the charge against a higher minimum wage, carbon emissions and the Affordable Health Care Act.

We urge newly elected Minnesotan lawmakers to focus on passing bipartisan legislation instead of contributing to political gridlock by trying to fight Dayton’s recently passed minimum wage increase bill, for example.

There are a number of areas in which teamwork would be beneficial in order to move forward. Transportation, infrastructure, education reform and continuing to address a battered economy are issues on which both parties campaigned — so they should be able to find some common ground.

Some Minnesotan politicians seem to understand this. Dayton recently said, “It takes two to tango. You can’t dance alone.” We couldn’t agree more and hope that progress will continue to be a theme of the future.