This is a list of minority leaders of the Minnesota House of Representatives.
| Minority Leader of the Minnesota House of Representatives | |
|---|---|
 | |
since January 3, 2023 | |
| Term length | Two years, no term limit |
| Inaugural holder | Winslow W. Dunn |
| Name | Took office | Left office | Party/caucus |
|---|---|---|---|
| Charles L. Halstead | 1945 | 1947 | Liberal |
| Joseph L Prifrel | 1947 | 1949 | Liberal |
| Edwin J. Chilgren | 1949 | 1951 | Liberal |
| Fred A. Cina | 1951 | 1955 | Liberal |
| John A. Hartle | 1955 | 1957 | Conservative |
| Odin E. S. Langen | 1957 | 1959 | Conservative |
| Lloyd L. Duxbury | 1959 | 1963 | Conservative |
| Fred A. Cina | 1963 | 1969 | Liberal |
| Martin Olav Sabo | 1969 | 1973 | Liberal |
| Aubrey W. Dirlam | 1973 | 1975 | Republican |
| Henry J. Savelkoul | 1975 | 1979 | Independent-Republican |
| None[- 1] | 1979 | 1980 | |
| Rod Searle | 1980 | 1981 | Independent-Republican |
| Glen Sherwood | 1981 | 1982 | Independent-Republican |
| David M. Jennings | 1982 | 1985 | Independent-Republican |
| Fred Norton | 1985 | 1987 | Democratic-Farmer-Labor |
| William R. Schreiber | 1987 | 1991 | Independent-Republican |
| Terry Dempsey | 1991 | 1993 | Independent-Republican |
| Steve Sviggum | 1993 | 1999 | Independent-Republican/Republican |
| Tom Pugh | 1999 | 2003 | Democratic-Farmer-Labor |
| Matt Entenza | 2003 | 2006 | Democratic-Farmer-Labor |
| Margaret Anderson Kelliher | 2006 | 2007 | Democratic-Farmer-Labor |
| Marty Seifert | 2007 | 2009 | Republican |
| Kurt Zellers | 2009 | 2011 | Republican |
| Paul Thissen | 2011 | 2013 | Democratic-Farmer-Labor |
| Kurt Daudt | 2013 | 2015 | Republican |
| Paul Thissen | 2015 | 2017 | Democratic-Farmer-Labor |
| Melissa Hortman | 2017 | 2019 | Democratic-Farmer-Labor |
| Kurt Daudt | 2019 | 2023 | Republican |
| Lisa Demuth | 2023 | Incumbent | Republican |
Notes on Minnesota political party names
edit- Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party: On April 15, 1944 the state Democratic Party and the Minnesota Farmer-Labor Party merged and created the Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party (DFL). It is affiliated with the national Democratic Party.
- Republican Party of Minnesota: From November 15, 1975 to September 23, 1995 the name of the state Republican party was the Independent-Republican party (I-R). The party has always been affiliated with the national Republican Party.
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.
Notes
edit- ^ From 1979 to 1980, the House was evenly divided.