Minnesota New Members 2019

Sen. Tina Smith (D-Minn.)

DATE OF BIRTH: March 4, 1958
RESIDENCE: Minneapolis
OCCUPATION: Lawmaker
EDUCATION: B.A., Stanford University; M.B.A., Dartmouth College
FAMILY: Husband, Archie; two children

Democratic Sen. Tina Smith easily won her special election bid to represent Minnesota for another two years. Smith beat Republican state Sen. Karin Housley to fill the remainder of former Sen. Al Franken’s (D) term, expiring in January 2021. 

Smith, a longtime player in her state’s Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party, was the lieutenant governor of Minnesota before being tapped to replace Franken last year, after he resigned amid allegations of sexual misconduct.

The former businesswoman, originally from Santa Fe, N.M., first moved to Minnesota for a job with General Mills in 1984. She later started her own marketing firm.

Smith also worked as a vice president for Planned Parenthood of Minnesota, North Dakota and South Dakota. She has also served as chief of staff to both former Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak and current Gov. Mark Dayton. She was elected as Minnesota lieutenant governor in 2014, a post she held until her appointment to the Senate.

 

Rep.-elect Jim Hagedorn (R-Minn.-01)

DATE OF BIRTH: Aug. 4, 1962
RESIDENCE: Blue Earth, Minn.
OCCUPATION: Former Bush official
EDUCATION: B.A., George Mason University
FAMILY: Single

Jim Hagedorn won election to Congress in Minnesota’s 1st Congressional District.

Hagedorn defeated former Obama defense official Dan Feehan to win the race for the seat being vacated by retiring Rep. Tim Walz (D), who had defeated Hagedorn in both 2016 and 2014 in the general election.

Hagedorn this time prevailed in a race that garnered national attention and that Republicans saw as a key pickup opportunity. The district voted for Trump in 2016 after twice voting for Obama.

Hagedorn won’t be a stranger to Washington; his father was a congressman for four terms, although Hagedorn has never held elected office himself.

Hagedorn worked as a legislative assistant in Congress and later held jobs in government, including director for legislative and public affairs at the Financial Management Service and congressional affairs officer for the Bureau of Engraving and Printing.

 

Rep.-elect Angie Craig  (D-Minn.-02)

DATE OF BIRTH: Feb. 14, 1972
RESIDENCE: Eagan, Minn.
OCCUPATION: Executive, small business owner
EDUCATION: B.A., University of Memphis
FAMILY: Wife, Cheryl Greene; four sons

Angie Craig pulled off a political comeback, winning a rematch against Rep. Jason Lewis (R) in their Minnesota swing district.

Craig had lost to Lewis by less than 2 points in 2016 in a race she had been favored to win.

But this year, Lewis was put on the defensive after CNN reported a series of comments he had made as a radio host, including questioning why it had become unacceptable to call women “sluts.”

Craig was an executive at St. Jude Medical, one of the medical device companies that are major employers in Minnesota. She made her personal story a key element of her campaign.

On the trail, Craig spoke about growing up in difficult circumstances, being raised by a single mother in a mobile home park. At times, her family did not have health insurance. She worked two jobs to put herself through college before becoming a newspaper reporter and eventually head of human resources for St. Jude.

 

Rep.-elect Dean Phillips  (D-Minn.-03)

DATE OF BIRTH: Jan. 20, 1969
RESIDENCE: Deephaven, Minn.
OCCUPATION: Businessman
EDUCATION: B.A., Brown University; M.B.A., University of Minnesota Carlson School of Management 
FAMILY: Partner, Annalise Glick; two daughters

Dean Phillips, a businessman, unseated five-term Rep. Erik Paulsen (R) in the suburban Minneapolis district Paulsen held for 10 years.

It was Phillips’s first run for political office, but he is coming to Congress after a successful business career. Phillips worked at his family’s liquor business, Phillips Distilling Co., before earning his M.B.A. and becoming CEO of the company.

After his father’s death, he joined Talenti Gelato, a company his father had invested in, helping build it into a major brand.

In 2015, he opened Penny’s Coffee, a small business with two locations in the Twin Cities.

He’s also the grandson of Pauline Phillips, better known to millions of newspaper readers by her pen name, Abigail Van Buren, in the “Dear Abby” column.

Phillips is divorced and has two daughters, Daniella and Pia. He lives in the Minneapolis suburb of Deephaven with his partner of three years, Annalise, and their Norwich terrier puppy, Henry.

 

Rep.-elect Ilhan Omar  (D-Minn.-05)

DATE OF BIRTH: Oct. 4, 1982
RESIDENCE: Minneapolis
OCCUPATION: State lawmaker
EDUCATION: B.A., North Dakota State University
FAMILY: Husband, Ahmed Hirsi; three children

Ilhan Omar is becoming one of the first Muslim women in Congress. She won election to Minnesota’s 5th District, where she will replace Rep. Keith Ellison (D), who ran for state attorney general instead of seeking reelection.

After Ellison’s exit, Omar jumped into the race, winning the primary and going on to defeat Republican challenger Jennifer Zielinski in the general election.

Omar first became interested in politics as a teenager while working as an interpreter for her grandfather at caucuses for the Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party.

Omar currently serves as a member of Minnesota’s House of Representatives. She made history when elected to that post in 2016 as the first Somali-American to hold elected office in the United States.

Omar was born in Mogadishu, Somalia, but left the country after the start of its civil war. She spent four years in a refugee camp in Kenya before arriving in the U.S. in 1995. Omar and her family eventually settled in Minneapolis.

 

Rep.-elect Pete Stauber (R-Minn.-08)

DATE OF BIRTH: May 10, 1966
RESIDENCE: Hermantown, Minn.
OCCUPATION: County commissioner
EDUCATION: B.A., Lake Superior State University
FAMILY: Wife, Jodi; four children

Republican Pete Stauber flipped Minnesota’s 8th Congressional District to win election to Congress. Stauber is replacing retiring Rep. Rick Nolan (D) in a seat that was seen as one of Democrats’ most vulnerable. The district voted for former President Obama twice, but backed President Trump by 15 points in 2016.

Stauber beat Democrat Joe Radinovich, a former state lawmaker, in the open race.

A Minnesota native, Stauber was born in Duluth and played ice hockey at Lake Superior State University, leading the team to the 1988 NCAA Division I men’s ice hockey title.

Stauber met former President Reagan when the team was invited to the White House.

Stauber signed a contract with the NHL’s Detroit Red Wings and retired after a few seasons in the minor leagues. When he returned home to Minnesota, he became a police officer for 22 years, retiring in 2017.

Stauber got his start in politics serving on the Hermantown City Council and later as a county commissioner.