Christine Kaufmann (born December 25, 1951) is a

Montana Montana () is a state in the Mountain West division of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota and South Dakota to the east, Wyoming to the south, and the Canadian provinces of Alberta, British Columbi ...

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

. A member of the

Montana Senate The Montana Senate is the upper house of the Montana Legislature, the state legislative branch of the U.S. state of Montana. The body is composed of 50 senators elected for four years. Composition of the Senate :''67th Legislature – 2021–202 ...

from January 2007 to 2016, she previously served three terms in the

Montana House of Representatives The Montana House of Representatives is, with the Montana Senate, one of the two houses of the Montana Legislature. Composed of 100 members, the House elects its leadership every two years. Composition of the House :''67th Legislature – 2021� ...

. She last represented the 41st senate district, based in

Helena, Montana Helena (; ) is the capital city of Montana, United States, and the county seat of Lewis and Clark County. Helena was founded as a gold camp during the Montana gold rush, and established on October 30, 1864. Due to the gold rush, Helena would ...

Biography

Kaufmann was raised on a small

Mennonite Mennonites are groups of Anabaptist Christian church communities of denominations. The name is derived from the founder of the movement, Menno Simons (1496–1561) of Friesland. Through his writings about Reformed Christianity during the Radic ...

family farm in

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...

with 11 siblings. She earned a

Bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...

from

Goshen College Goshen College is a Private college, private Mennonite Church USA, Mennonite Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Goshen, Indiana. It was founded in 1894 as the Elkhart Institute of Science, Industry and the Arts, ...

and a

Master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

from the

University of Montana The University of Montana (UM) is a public research university in Missoula, Montana. UM is a flagship institution of the Montana University System and its second largest campus. UM reported 10,962 undergraduate and graduate students in the fal ...

. A

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...

, she was first elected to the State House of Representatives in 2000 from the state's 53rd district in Helena, winning a four-way primary election with 49% of the vote. She was elected after having received more roughly two-thirds of the votes cast in the general election. As a result of the 2006 general election, Senator Ken Toole resigned from the Montana Senate, as he was elected to the

Montana Public Service Commission The Montana Public Service Commission (PSC) is a quasi-judicial regulatory board of elected officials in the U.S. state of Montana. The PSC regulates private, investor-owned natural gas, electric, telephone, water and private sewer companies doing ...

. The following month, Kaufmann, was appointed by the

Lewis and Clark County Lewis and Clark County is a County (United States), county located in the U.S. state of Montana. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 70,973. Its county seat is Helena, Montana, Helena, the state capital. The nume ...

commissioners to replace him in the senate. The seat was up for election in 2008 and, on June 3, 2008, she faced a primary challenge from

termed out A term limit is a legal restriction that limits the number of terms an officeholder may serve in a particular elected office. When term limits are found in presidential and semi-presidential systems they act as a method of curbing the potenti ...

State Representative Hal Jacobson. Kaufmann was elected, having received 54% of the vote. A

lesbian A lesbian is a Homosexuality, homosexual woman.Zimmerman, p. 453. The word is also used for women in relation to their sexual identity or sexual behavior, regardless of sexual orientation, or as an adjective to characterize or associate n ...

, she is the first ever openly gay Montana state senator. She was one of three LGBT members of the Montana legislature in 2015, serving alongside

Diane Sands Haysel Diane Sands (born March 23, 1947) is an American politician from Montana. As a Democrat, she served in the Montana State Senate, representing the 49th senate district in Missoula, Montana. Biography Born in St. Ignatius, Montana, Sands ...

and

Bryce Bennett Bryce Bennett, (born November 11, 1984) an American politician from Montana. As a Democrat, he served in the Montana Senate from 2019 to 2021 and represented he 50th senate district based in Missoula, Montana. He previously served in the Monta ...

. Her election campaigns have received endorsements from the

Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund The LGBTQ Victory Fund (formerly the Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund), commonly shortened to Victory Fund, is an American political action committee dedicated to increasing the number of openly LGBT, LGBTQ public officials in the United States. Vict ...

References

External links

Campaign websiteLegislative homepage
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kaufmann, Christine Living people 1951 births University of Montana alumni Democratic Party members of the Montana House of Representatives Democratic Party Montana state senators Lesbian politicians LGBT state legislators in Montana LGBT Mennonites American Mennonites Politicians from Helena, Montana Women state legislators in Montana Goshen College alumni 21st-century American politicians 21st-century American women politicians 21st-century LGBT people