List of minority leaders of the Minnesota Senate

Last updated

This is a list of minority leaders of the Minnesota Senate

NameTook officeLeft officeParty/Caucus
Bolesaw G. Novak19511955 Liberal
Harold W. Schultz19551963Liberal
Paul A. Thuet19631967Liberal
Karl F. Grittner 19671971Liberal
Nick Coleman 19711973Liberal
Harold G. Krieger19731975 Republican
Robert O. Ashbach 19751983Republican/Independent-Republican
James E. Ulland 19831985Independent-Republican
Glen Taylor 19851987Independent-Republican
Duane Benson 19871993Independent-Republican
Dean Johnson 19931995Independent-Republican/Republican
Dick Day 19952007Republican
David Senjem 20072011Republican
Tom Bakk 20112013 Democratic-Farmer-Labor
David Hann 20132017Republican
Tom Bakk 20172020Democratic-Farmer-Labor
Susan Kent 20202021Democratic-Farmer-Labor
Melisa Franzen 2021IncumbentDemocratic-Farmer-Labor

Notes on Minnesota political party names

In 1913, Minnesota legislators began to be elected on nonpartisan ballots. Nonpartisanship also was an historical accident that occurred in the 1913 session when a bill to provide for no party elections of judges and city and county officers was amended to include the Legislature in the belief that it would kill the bill. Legislators ran and caucused as "Liberals" or "Conservatives" roughly equivalent in most years to Democratic-Farmer-Labor and Republican, respectively. The law was changed in 1973, in 1976, Senate members again ran with party designation.

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