| Speaker of the Minnesota House of Representatives | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Term length | Two years, no term limit |
| Inaugural holder | John S. Watrous |
| Formation | December 2, 1857 |
| Website | http://www.house.leg.state.mn.us/ |
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| Constitution |
This is a list of speakers of the Minnesota House of Representatives . The speaker of the House is usually the leader of the majority party, and is the most powerful figure in the House. The current House speaker is Melissa Hortman.
| # | Speaker | Took office | Left office | Party/caucus |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Joseph W. Furber | 1849 | 1851 | Whig |
| 2 | Michael E. Ames | 1851 | 1852 | Democratic |
| 3 | John D. Ludden | 1852 | 1853 | Unknown |
| 4 | David Day | 1853 | 1854 | Unknown |
| 5 | Nathan C. D. Taylor | 1854 | 1855 | Unknown |
| 6 | James S. Norris | 1855 | 1856 | Democratic |
| 7 | Charles Gardner | 1856 | 1857 | Unknown |
| 8 | Joseph W. Furber | 1857 | 1857 | Whig |
| # | Speaker | Took office | Left office | Party/caucus | Notes | Session |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | John S. Watrous | 2 December 1857 | 12 March 1858 | Unknown | Minnesota Legislators Past & Present lists Watrous' party affiliation as "Not Available," while the Minnesota Legislative Reference Library's list of Speakers of the House of Representatives lists "R?," indicating that the MLRL does not know what Watrous' party affiliation was, and is merely guessing that he might have been a Republican. On the other hand, the Journal of the House of Representatives for the 1st Session shows that Watrous was elected Speaker in a party-line vote by a majority Democratic House of Representatives, with the Democratic majority voting for him and the Republican minority voting for James Beach Wakefield, and Watrous was, in 1859, given a federal civil service appointment by the Buchanan Administration at a time when patronage was the rule for civil service appointments. | 1st |
| 2 | George Bradley | 12 March 1858 | 6 December 1859 | Unknown | Minnesota Legislators Past & Present lists Bradley's party affiliation as "Not Available," while the Minnesota Legislative Reference Library's list of Speakers of the House of Representatives lists "R?," indicating that the MLRL does not know what Bradley's party affiliation was, and is merely guessing that he might have been a Republican. On the other hand, Bradley was elected Speaker at a time when the Democrats held a 55 percent voting majority in the Minnesota House of Representatives, and, in 1860, received a federal civil service appointment from the Buchanan Administration, much as Watrous had. | |
| 3 | Amos Coggswell | 7 December 1859 | 7 January 1861 | Republican | 2nd | |
| 4 | Jared Benson | 8 January 1861 | 5 January 1863 | Republican | 3rd | |
| 4th | ||||||
| 5 | Charles D. Sherwood | 6 January 1863 | 4 January 1864 | Republican | 5th | |
| 6 | Jared Benson | 5 January 1864 | 1864? | Republican | 6th | |
| 7 | Thomas H. Armstrong | 1864? | 1865 | Republican | Unclear whether took office in 1864 or 1865 | 7th |
| 8 | James B. Wakefield | 1866 | 1866 | Republican | Served as a U.S. Representative | 8th |
| 9 | John Q. Farmer | 1867 | 1868 | Whig/Republican | 9th | |
| 10th | ||||||
| 10 | Chester D. Davidson | 1869 | 1869 | Republican | 11th | |
| 11 | John L. Merriam | 1870 | 1871 | Republican | 12th | |
| 13th | ||||||
| 12 | A.R. Hall | 1872 | 1874 | Republican | 14th | |
| 15th | ||||||
| 16th | ||||||
| 13 | William R. Kinyon | 1875 | 1876 | Republican | 17th | |
| 18th | ||||||
| 14 | John L. Gibbs | 1877 | 1877 | Republican | 19th | |
| 15 | Charles A. Gilman | 1878 | 1879 | Republican | 20th | |
| 21st | ||||||
| 16 | Loren Fletcher | 1881 | 1885 | Republican | 22nd | |
| 23rd | ||||||
| 17 | John L. Gibbs | 1885 | 1887 | Republican | 24th | |
| 18 | William Rush Merriam | 1887 | 1889 | Republican | Served as Governor of Minnesota | 25th |
| 19 | Charles H. Graves | 1889 | 1891 | Republican | 26th | |
| 20 | Ezra T. Champlin | 1891 | 1893 | Alliance | 27th | |
| 21 | William E. Lee | 1893 | 1895 | Republican | 28th | |
| 22 | Samuel Rinnah Van Sant | 1895 | 1897 | Republican | Served as Governor of Minnesota | 29th |
| 23 | John D. Jones | 1897 | 1899 | Republican | 30th | |
| 24 | Arthur N. Dare | 1899 | 1901 | Republican | 31st | |
| 25 | M.J. Dowling | 1901 | 1903 | Republican | 32nd | |
| 26 | Leverett W. Babcock | 1903 | 1905 | Republican | 33rd | |
| 27 | Frank Clague | 1905 | 1907 | Republican | Served as a U.S. Representative | 34th |
| 28 | Lawrence H. Johnson | 1907 | 1909 | Republican | 35th | |
| 29 | Anton J. Rockne | 1909 | 1911 | Republican | 36th | |
| 30 | Howard H. Dunn | 1911 | 1913 | Republican | 37th | |
| 31 | Henry Rines | 1913 | 1915 | Conservative | Served as Minnesota Treasurer | 38th |
| 32 | H.H. Flowers | 1915 | 1917 | Conservative | 39th | |
| 33 | Ralph J. Parker | January 1917 | January 1919 | Conservative | 40th | |
| 34 | William I. Nolan | January 1919 | January 1925 | Conservative | 41st | |
| 42nd | ||||||
| 43rd | ||||||
| 35 | John A. Johnson | January 1925 | January 1931 | Conservative | 44th | |
| 45th | ||||||
| 46th | ||||||
| 36 | Oscar A. Swenson | January 1931 | January 1933 | Conservative | 47th | |
| 37 | Charles Munn | January 1933 | January 1935 | Liberal | 48th | |
| 38 | George W. Johnson | January 1935 | January 1937 | Conservative | 49th | |
| 39 | Harold H. Barker | January 1937 | January 1939 | Liberal | 50th | |
| 40 | Lawrence M. Hall | January 1939 | January 1949 | Conservative | Longest-serving speaker | 51st |
| 52nd | ||||||
| 53rd | ||||||
| 54th | ||||||
| 55th | ||||||
| 41 | John A. Hartle | January 4, 1949 | January 6, 1955 | Conservative | 56th | |
| 57th | ||||||
| 58th | ||||||
| 42 | Alfred I. Johnson | January 6, 1955 | January 5, 1959 | Liberal | 59th | |
| 60th | ||||||
| 43 | Edwin J. Chilgren | January 5, 1959 | January 7, 1963 | Liberal | 61st | |
| 62nd | ||||||
| 44 | Lloyd L. Duxbury | January 7, 1963 | January 1971 | Conservative | 63rd | |
| 64th | ||||||
| 65th | ||||||
| 66th | ||||||
| 45 | A.W. Dirlam | January 1971 | January 1973 | Conservative | 67th | |
| 46 | Martin Olav Sabo | January 1973 | January 1979 | DFL | Served as a U.S. Representative | 68th |
| 69th | ||||||
| 70th | ||||||
| 47 | Rod Searle | January 1979 | January 1980 | Independent-Republican | 71st | |
| 48 | Fred C. Norton | January 1980 | January 1981 | DFL | Served on Minnesota Court of Appeals | |
| 49 | Harry A. Sieben | January 1981 | January 1985 | DFL | 72nd | |
| 73rd | ||||||
| 50 | David M. Jennings | January 1985 | January 1987 | Independent-Republican | 74th | |
| 51 | Fred C. Norton | January 1987 | June 1987 | DFL | Served on Minnesota Court of Appeals | 75th |
| 52 | Robert Vanasek | June 1987 | January 6, 1992 | DFL | 75th | |
| 76th | ||||||
| 77th | ||||||
| 53 | Dee Long | January 6, 1992 | September 15, 1993 | DFL | First woman to serve as speaker. | 77th |
| 78th | ||||||
| 54 | Irv Anderson | September 1993 | January 1997 | DFL | 78th | |
| 79th | ||||||
| 55 | Phil Carruthers | January 1997 | January 1999 | DFL | 80th | |
| 56 | Steve Sviggum | January 1999 | January 2007 | Republican | 81st | |
| 82nd | ||||||
| 83rd | ||||||
| 84th | ||||||
| 57 | Margaret Anderson Kelliher | January 2007 | January 2011 | DFL | 85th | |
| 86th | ||||||
| 58 | Kurt Zellers | January 4, 2011 | January 8, 2013 | Republican | 87th | |
| 59 | Paul Thissen | January 8, 2013 | January 6, 2015 | DFL | Appointed to the Minnesota Supreme Court in 2018 | 88th |
| 60 | Kurt Daudt | January 6, 2015 | January 8, 2019 | Republican | 89th | |
| 90th | ||||||
| 61 | Melissa Hortman | January 8, 2019 | Incumbent | DFL | 91st | |
| 92nd |
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 1974, House members again ran with party designation.
Under House rules, former speakers who are serving in the House are given the title of Speaker Emeritus . While the position has no formal power, the title is seen as a sign of respect for former speakers. [1]
The Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party (DFL) is a political party in the U.S. state of Minnesota affiliated with the national Democratic Party. The party was formed by a merger between the Minnesota Democratic Party and the Minnesota Farmer–Labor Party in 1944. The DFL is one of two state Democratic Party affiliates with a different name from that of the national party, the other being the North Dakota Democratic–Nonpartisan League Party.
The Republican Party of Minnesota is the state affiliate of the Republican Party in Minnesota and the oldest active political party in the state. Founded in 1855, the party controls four of Minnesota's eight congressional House seats. The last Republican governor of the state was Tim Pawlenty, who served from 2003 to 2011.
The North Dakota Democratic–Nonpartisan League Party is the North Dakota affiliate of the national Democratic Party. It was formed as the outcome of a merger of two parties; the state previously had a three-party political system. It is one of only two state Democratic Party affiliates to have a different name from the central party, the other being the neighboring Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party. The party currently has very weak electoral power in the state, controlling none of North Dakota's statewide or federal elected offices.
The Minnesota Legislature is the bicameral legislature of the U.S. state of Minnesota consisting of two houses: the Senate and the House of Representatives. Senators are elected from 67 single-member districts. In order to account for decennial redistricting, members run for one two-year term and two four-year terms each decade. They are elected for four-year terms in years ending in 2 and 6, and for two-year terms in years ending in 0. Representatives are elected for two-year terms from 134 single-member districts formed by dividing the 67 senate districts in half.
The Florida House of Representatives is the lower house of the Florida Legislature, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Florida, the Florida Senate being the upper house. Article III, Section 1 of the Constitution of Florida, adopted in 1968, defines the role of the Legislature and how it is to be constituted. The House is composed of 120 members, each elected from a single-member district with a population of approximately 180,000 residents. Legislative districts are drawn on the basis of population figures, provided by the federal decennial census. Representatives' terms begin immediately upon their election.
The secretary of state of Minnesota is a constitutional officer in the executive branch of government of the U.S. state of Minnesota. Twenty-two individuals have held the office of secretary of state since statehood. The incumbent is Steve Simon, a member of the Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party.
The Oklahoma House of Representatives is the lower house of the legislature of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. Its members introduce and vote on bills and resolutions, provide legislative oversight for state agencies, and help to craft the state's budget. The upper house of the Oklahoma Legislature is the Oklahoma Senate.
Minnesota is known for a politically active citizenry, with populism being a longstanding force among the state's political parties. Minnesota has consistently high voter turnout; in the 2008 U.S. presidential election, 77.8% of eligible Minnesotans voted – the highest percentage of any U.S. state or territory – versus the national average of 61.7%. This was due in part to its same day voter registration laws; previously unregistered voters can register on election day, at their polls, with evidence of residency.
The Democratic Party of Indiana is the affiliate of the Democratic Party in the U.S. state of Indiana.
The following table indicates the party of elected officials in the U.S. state of Minnesota:
Dee Long is a Minnesota politician, a member of the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party, and a former member of the Minnesota House of Representatives, representing part of Minneapolis. Long was the first woman to serve as Speaker of the Minnesota House of Representatives, a position she held from 1992 to 1993.
Theodore J. "Ted" Winter is a Minnesota politician and a former member of the Minnesota House of Representatives from southwestern Minnesota. First elected in 1986 in the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party's "firestorm" that swept through the region, giving Democrats unprecedented control of southwestern Minnesota for the next several election cycles, Winter served eight terms. He was re-elected in 1988, 1990, 1992, 1994, 1996, 1998 and 2000. He represented the old District 28A and, later, District 22A, which included all or portions of Cottonwood, Jackson, Lyon, Murray, Nobles and Redwood counties, changing somewhat through redistricting in 1992.
Leon Michael Lillie is an American politician serving in the Minnesota House of Representatives since 2005. A member of the Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party (DFL), Lillie represents District 44B in the Twin Cities metropolitan area, which includes the cities of Oakdale, North St. Paul, and Maplewood and parts of Ramsey and Washington Counties.
The 1980 Minnesota House of Representatives election was held in the U.S. state of Minnesota on November 4, 1980, to elect members to the House of Representatives of the 72nd Minnesota Legislature. A primary election was held on September 9, 1980.
The seventieth Minnesota Legislature first convened on January 4, 1977. The 67 members of the Minnesota Senate and the 134 members of the Minnesota House of Representatives were elected during the General Election of November 2, 1976. It was the first Minnesota Legislature since the thirty-eighth Minnesota Legislature whose members of the Minnesota Senate were chosen in partisan elections.
