Minnesota throws shade at Iowa again, this time over our popular blackout license plates

First Minnesota threw down over state fairs. Now, it's about license plates.

For the record, Iowa had the cool blackout plates first.

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz is recommending the Gopher state picks up on the blackout plate trend, according to MPR news. He took to twitter Monday to give Iowa a backhanded compliment, saying the blackout plates are "one thing Iowa got right."

While Iowa doesn't rank higher on many state rankings than Minnesota, it does have the same number of Super Bowl victories.

Sorry, Vikings fans.

Are blackout plates actually a trend?

You betcha, according to statistics from the Iowa Department of Transportation.

At the end of 2022, 450,969 Iowans were rocking the black plates on their vehicles. That's up from 237,981 in 2020 — a 90% increase.

More:'Nothing has ever really been like this': The story behind Iowa's unprecedentedly popular blackout license plates

That far outstripped other specialty license plates, such as the "flying our colors" plate that had 5,641 in use through December 2022.

And if you're like hundreds of thousands of Iowans with blackout plates, your money is supporting the blacktop you're driving, with the extra fees going toward the Road Use Tax Fund.

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Iowa's blackout plates are making other states jealous, like Minnesota