Roger Skraba | |
---|---|
Member of the MinnesotaHouseofRepresentatives from the 3A district | |
Assumed office January 3, 2023 | |
Preceded by | Rob Ecklund |
Constituency | 3A (2023-present) |
Personal details | |
Born | Ely,Minnesota,U.S. | November 29,1961
Political party | Republican |
Residence(s) | Ely,Minnesota,U.S. |
Education | North Dakota State University (BA) |
Occupation |
|
Website | Government website Campaign website |
Military service | |
Branch/service | United States Army |
Years of service | 1986-1994 |
Rank | Sergeant |
Roger J. Skraba (born November 29, 1961) is an American politician serving in the Minnesota House of Representatives since 2023. A member of the Republican Party of Minnesota, Skraba represents District 3A in northern Minnesota, which includes the cities of International Falls and Ely, and parts or all of Cook, Itasca, Koochiching, Lake, and St. Louis Counties. [1] [2]
Born in Ely, Minnesota, Skraba graduated from Ely Memorial High School and from North Dakota State University with a bachelor's degree in construction management. Skraba served in the United States Army for nine years, attaining the rank of Sergeant. [1]
Skraba served on the St. Louis County Board of Adjustment and Planning Commission. He was a member of the Ely City Council and was elected mayor of Ely four times, most recently in 2021. [1] [3] [4]
Skraba, who was a DFL er before joining the Republican Party of Minnesota, endorsed candidate Jeff Anderson in the 2012 DFL primary to challenge Chip Cravaack for Minnesota's 8th Congressional District. [5] After Anderson lost the primary to Rick Nolan, Skraba endorsed Cravaack. [6]
Skraba was elected to the Minnesota House of Representatives in 2022. He first ran for the state House in 2002 as the Independence Party nominee, finishing third behind Republican Tom Porter and Democrat David Dill. He ran again in a 2015 special election after Dill died, and lost to DFL nominee Rob Ecklund. [7] Skraba defeated Ecklund in 2022 by 0.07 percent, triggering an automatic recount under state law, after which Skraba was declared the winner by 15 votes. [1] [8] [9]
Skraba serves on the Capital Investment, Environment and Natural Resources Finance and Policy, and Legacy Finance Committees. [1]
In 2010, Skraba, a longtime supporter of the mining industry, urged then-Governor Mark Dayton to pick department heads sympathetic to mining projects. [10] [11] He has criticized environmentalists in the DFL party, saying that northern Minnesota has been hampered by onerous permitting processes for mining. [12] Skraba opposed the Biden administration's decision to cancel leases for Twin Metals copper-nickel mine in the region. [13]
Skraba, who has worked as a canoe guide, has supported northern Minnesota's tourism industry but said it "does not produce all the money Ely needs to function". [14] [15] He supported a 2023 infrastructure package that included over $40 million in funding for projects in northern Minnesota, saying it was "a good bill for the Northland". [16] He co-sponsored a bill extending unemployment benefits to laid-off miners, which passed the legislature in 2023 with bipartisan support. [17]
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Democratic (DFL) | David K. Dill | 10,804 | 56.21 | |
Republican | Tom Porter | 4,318 | 22.46 | |
Independence | Roger Skraba | 3,945 | 20.52 | |
Write-in | 155 | 0.81 | ||
Total votes | 19,222 | 100.00 | ||
Democratic (DFL) hold |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Democratic (DFL) | Rob Ecklund | 4,591 | 63.39 | |
Republican | Roger Skraba | 1,399 | 19.32 | |
Independent | Kelsey Johnson | 1,144 | 15.79 | |
Write-in | 109 | 1.50 | ||
Total votes | 7,243 | 100.0 | ||
Democratic (DFL) hold |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Republican | Roger Skraba | 10,867 | 49.98 | |||
Democratic (DFL) | Rob Ecklund (incumbent) | 10,852 | 49.91 | |||
Write-in | 22 | 0.10 | ||||
Total votes | 21,741 | 100.0 | ||||
Republican gain from Democratic (DFL) | ||||||
Skraba lives in Ely, Minnesota. He is Catholic and attends St. Anthony's Catholic Church in Ely. [1]
In 2010, while mayor of Ely, Skraba was sentenced in federal court after pleading guilty to driving his snowmobile in the restricted Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. He was also sentenced for breaking into a U.S. Forest Service shed and stealing a portable toilet, which he had hidden. [21] He was fined $3,630, sentenced to 40 hours of community service, and placed on probation for two years. [21] He has previously filed for bankruptcy. [12]
Rick Hansen is an American politician serving in the Minnesota House of Representatives since 2005. A member of the Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party (DFL), Hansen represents District 53B in the southeastern Twin Cities metropolitan area, which includes the cities of South St. Paul, Inver Grove Heights, Cottage Grove and St. Paul Park, and parts of Dakota and Washington Counties.
Gregory Michael Davids is an American politician serving in the Minnesota House of Representatives since 2009, and from 1991 to 2006. A member of the Republican Party of Minnesota, Davids represents District 26B in southeastern Minnesota, which includes the cities of La Crescent and Spring Valley, and parts of Fillmore, Houston, and Mower Counties.
Brian Johnson is an American politician serving in the Minnesota House of Representatives since 2013. A member of the Republican Party of Minnesota, Johnson represents District 32A in eastern Minnesota, which includes the cities of Cambridge, Isanti, and North Branch, and parts of Chisago and Isanti Counties.
Mike Freiberg is an American politician serving in the Minnesota House of Representatives since 2013. A member of the Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party (DFL), Freiberg represents District 43B in the central Twin Cities metropolitan area, which includes the cities of Golden Valley and Robbinsdale and parts of Hennepin County.
Mohamud Noor is an American politician serving in the Minnesota House of Representatives since 2019. A member of the Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party (DFL), Noor represents District 60B, which includes parts of the city of Minneapolis in Hennepin County.
Joshua Heintzeman is a Minnesotan politician serving in the Minnesota House of Representatives since 2015. A member of the Republican Party of Minnesota, Heintzeman represents District 6B, which includes the city of Brainerd and parts of Crow Wing County in central Minnesota.
Jeff Backer Jr. is an American politician serving in the Minnesota House of Representatives since 2015. A member of the Republican Party of Minnesota, Backer represents District 9A in western Minnesota, which includes the city of Fergus Falls, Grant, Traverse, and Wilkin Counties, and parts of Otter Tail County.
A special election was held in the U.S. state of Minnesota on December 8, 2015, to elect a new representative for District 3A in the Minnesota House of Representatives, caused by the death of Representative David Dill on August 8, 2015. A primary election was held on September 29, 2015, to nominate a Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party (DFL) candidate. Rob Ecklund, the DFL nominee, won the special election.
Robert Ecklund is a Minnesota politician and a former member of the Minnesota House of Representatives. A member of the Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party (DFL), he formerly represented District 3A in northeastern Minnesota.
The 2018 Minnesota gubernatorial election took place on November 6, to elect the 41st Governor of Minnesota as incumbent Democratic governor Mark Dayton chose not to run for re-election for a third term. The Democratic nominee was congressman Tim Walz from Minnesota's 1st congressional district while the Republicans nominated Hennepin County commissioner Jeff Johnson. The Independence Party of Minnesota didn't field a candidate for the first time since 1994. Going into the election the polls showed Walz ahead and the race was characterized as lean or likely DFL.
Anne E. Neu Brindley is an American politician serving in the Minnesota House of Representatives since 2017. A member of the Republican Party of Minnesota, Neu Brindley represents District 28B in east-central Minnesota, including the cities of Wyoming, Chisago, and North Branch, and parts of Chisago County.
Jamie Becker-Finn is an American politician serving in the Minnesota House of Representatives since 2017. A member of the Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party (DFL), Becker-Finn represents District 42B in the northeastern Twin Cities metropolitan area, which includes the cities of Roseville and Shoreview and parts of Ramsey County, Minnesota.
Dave Lislegard is an American politician serving in the Minnesota House of Representatives since 2019. A member of the Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party (DFL), Lislegard represents District 7B in northeast Minnesota, which includes the city of Virginia and parts of St. Louis County in the Iron Range.
Jamie Long is an American politician serving in the Minnesota House of Representatives since 2019. A member of the Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party (DFL), Long represents District 61B, which includes parts of southern Minneapolis in Hennepin County, Minnesota.
Athena Hollins is an American politician serving in the Minnesota House of Representatives since 2021. A member of the Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party (DFL), Hollins represents District 66B, which includes parts of Saint Paul in Ramsey County, Minnesota.
Spencer R. Igo is an American politician serving in the Minnesota House of Representatives since 2021. A member of the Republican Party of Minnesota, Igo represents District 7A in northern Minnesota, including the city of Hibbing and parts of Aitkin, Itasca and St. Louis Counties.
Kaela Berg is an American politician serving in the Minnesota House of Representatives since 2021. A member of the Minnesota Democratic Farmer-Labor Party (DFL), Berg represents District 55B in the southern Twin Cities metropolitan area, which includes the city of Burnsville and parts of Dakota County.
The 2022 Minnesota House of Representatives election was held in the U.S. state of Minnesota on November 8, 2022, to elect members to the House of Representatives of the 93rd Minnesota Legislature. A primary election was held in several districts on August 9, 2022. The election coincided with the election of the other chamber of the Legislature, the Senate.
Natalie Zeleznikar is an American politician serving in the Minnesota House of Representatives since 2023. A member of the Republican Party of Minnesota, Zeleznikar represents District 3B in northern Minnesota, which includes the cities of Hermantown, Two Harbors, and Rice Lake, and parts of Lake and St. Louis Counties.
Samakab Hussein is an American politician serving in the Minnesota House of Representatives since 2023. A member of the Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party (DFL), Hussein represents District 65A in the Twin Cities, which includes parts of the city of Saint Paul in Ramsey County.