Dennis M. "Denny" McNamara (born September 29, 1952) is a

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...

politician and former member of the

Minnesota House of Representatives The Minnesota House of Representatives is the lower house of the Legislature of the U.S. state of Minnesota. There are 134 members, twice as many as the Minnesota Senate. Floor sessions are held in the north wing of the State Capitol in Saint Pa ...

. A member of the

Republican Party of Minnesota The Republican Party of Minnesota is the oldest active political party in the U.S. state of Minnesota. The Minnesota Republican Party’s platform is relatively moderate. The party’s main issues are economic growth, education, healthcare, civi ...

, he represented District 54B, which included portions of

Dakota Dakota may refer to: * Dakota people, a sub-tribe of the Sioux ** Dakota language, their language Dakota may also refer to: Places United States * Dakota, Georgia, an unincorporated community * Dakota, Illinois, a town * Dakota, Minnesota, a ...

and

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered on ...

counties in the southeastern part of the

Twin Cities Twin cities are a special case of two neighboring cities or urban centres that grow into a single conurbation – or narrowly separated urban areas – over time. There are no formal criteria, but twin cities are generally comparable in statu ...

metropolitan area.

Early life, education, and career

McNamara attended Archbishop Brady High School in West Saint Paul, then went on to the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota, formally the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, (UMN Twin Cities, the U of M, or Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Tw ...

Duluth , settlement_type = City , nicknames = Twin Ports (with Superior), Zenith City , motto = , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top: urban Duluth skyline; Minnesota ...

for two years. He graduated from the Carlson School of Business at the

Minneapolis Minneapolis () is the largest city in Minnesota, United States, and the county seat of Hennepin County. The city is abundant in water, with thirteen lakes, wetlands, the Mississippi River, creeks and waterfalls. Minneapolis has its origins ...

in 1976, earning his

B.S. A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University ...

in Business Administration. McNamara previously owned and operated Hoffman and McNamara Nursery and Landscape in

Hastings Hastings () is a large seaside town and borough in East Sussex on the south coast of England, east to the county town of Lewes and south east of London. The town gives its name to the Battle of Hastings, which took place to the north-west ...

Minnesota House of Representatives

McNamara was elected to the Minnesota House of Representatives in 2002 and was re-elected in 2004, 2006, 2008, 2010, 2012, and 2014. He has served as the

ranking member In United States politics, a ranking member is the most senior member of a congressional or state legislative committee from the minority party. On many committees the ranking minority member, along with the Chair, serve as ''ex officio'' members ...

of the House Environment Policy and Oversight Committee, the House Ways and Means Committee, the Environment Policy and Oversight Subcommittee for the Game, Fish and Forestry Division, and the Finance subcommittees for the Environment and Natural Resources Finance Division and the Housing Finance and Policy and Public Health Finance Division. He was a

minority whip The positions of majority leader and minority leader are held by two United States senators and members of the party leadership of the United States Senate. They serve as the chief spokespersons for their respective political parties holding t ...

during the 2007-2008 biennium. McNamara did not seek re-election in 2016.

Campaign for Minnesota Senate

On November 27, 2017, McNamara announced he would run in the

special election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, a bye-election in Ireland, a bypoll in India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-larges ...

for the

Minnesota Senate The Minnesota Senate is the upper house of the Legislature of the U.S. state of Minnesota. At 67 members, half as many as the Minnesota House of Representatives, it is the largest upper house of any U.S. state legislature. Floor sessions are hel ...

seat vacated by

Dan Schoen Dan Schoen (born December 7, 1974) is an American politician and former member of the Minnesota Senate. A member of the Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party (DFL), he represented District 54 in the southeastern Twin Cities metropolitan are ...

. He won the Republican nomination in the primary election against James Brunsgaard. He lost the election to former DFL State Representative

Karla Bigham Karla Bigham ( ; born March 9, 1979) is an American politician and member of the Minnesota Senate, representing District 54. She is also a former Washington County Commissioner and former member of the Minnesota House of Representatives. She is a ...

and Libertarian candidate Emily Mellingen.

References

External links

Minnesota Public Radio Votetracker: Rep. Denny McNamara

Project Votesmart - Rep. Denny McNamara Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:McNamara, Denny 1952 births Living people People from West St. Paul, Minnesota People from Hastings, Minnesota University of Minnesota Duluth alumni Carlson School of Management alumni Republican Party members of the Minnesota House of Representatives 21st-century American politicians