Fred C. Norton (August 19, 1928 – October 28, 2000) was 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, a member of the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party, a

Speaker Speaker may refer to: Society and politics * Speaker (politics), the presiding officer in a legislative assembly * Public speaker, one who gives a speech or lecture * A person producing speech: the producer of a given utterance, especially: ** I ...

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 ...

, and a judge of the

Minnesota Court of Appeals The Minnesota Court of Appeals is the intermediate appellate court in the U.S. state of Minnesota. It began operating on November 1, 1983. Jurisdiction The Court of Appeals has jurisdiction over most appeals from the state trial courts, inclu ...

. Norton was born in 1928 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. He attended 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 ...

before graduating in 1950 from

Wesleyan University Wesleyan University ( ) is a Private university, private liberal arts college, liberal arts university in Middletown, Connecticut. Founded in 1831 as a Men's colleges in the United States, men's college under the auspices of the Methodist Epis ...

. He later received his law degree from the

University of Minnesota Law School The University of Minnesota Law School is the law school of the University of Minnesota, located in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The school confers four law degrees: a Juris Doctor (J.D.), a Master of Laws (LL.M.), a Master of Science in Patent Law ...

. Norton worked in the office of the

Minnesota Attorney General The attorney general of Minnesota is a constitutional officer in the executive branch of the U.S. State of Minnesota. Thirty individuals have held the office of Attorney General since statehood. The incumbent is Keith Ellison, a DFLer. Electi ...

from 1955 to 1965, specializing in tax law. He was elected to the

in 1966, representing St. Paul, Minnesota. He became Speaker of the House in 1980 after mid-term elections broke a deadlock in the body. He did not have the support of the majority of his

caucus A caucus is a meeting of supporters or members of a specific political party or movement. The exact definition varies between different countries and political cultures. The term originated in the United States, where it can refer to a meeting ...

, but 49 Independent-Republicans joined 26 DFLers to give him the Speaker's gavel. He served only one year before being replaced by Harry A. Sieben, Jr. after the 1982 elections gave Democrats a larger majority. He later served as minority leader from 1985 to 1987, and became speaker again in January 1987. Norton resigned from the House in June 1987, accepting an appointment to the

by Governor Rudy Perpich. He won election to the court in 1988, and served on the court until he retired in 1997. He died of bone cancer in 2000.

References

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Speakers of the Minnesota House of Representatives
1928 births 2000 deaths Wesleyan University alumni Speakers of the Minnesota House of Representatives Democratic Party members of the Minnesota House of Representatives Minnesota Court of Appeals judges Politicians from Minneapolis University of Minnesota Law School alumni 20th-century American judges Lawyers from Minneapolis 20th-century American legislators 20th-century American lawyers 20th-century Minnesota politicians {{Minnesota-politician-stub