Keith S. Downey (born November 10, 1960) 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 the former chairman 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 ...

. A 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 ...

, he represented District 41A, which primarily included portions of the cities of

Edina EDINA is a centre for digital expertise, based at the University of Edinburgh as a division of the Information Services Group. Services EDINA front-end services (those accessed directly by the user) are available free at the point of use for ...

and

Minnetonka Minnetonka ( ) is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States. A western suburb of the Twin Cities, Minnetonka is located about west of downtown Minneapolis. As of the 2020 census, the city's population was 53,781. Minnetonka is the ...

Hennepin County Hennepin County ( ) is a county in the U.S. state of Minnesota. Its county seat is Minneapolis, the state's most populous city. The county is named in honor of the 17th-century explorer Father Louis Hennepin. The county extends from Minneapol ...

in the southwestern

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. He is also a consultant for state and local governments on strategy, operations, and technology.

Early life, education, and career

Downey grew up in Edina, attending Morningside Elementary School, Southview Middle School, and East High School, graduating in 1979. He went on to the

University of Wisconsin A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, t ...

in Eau Claire, where he received his

B.B.A. Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) is a bachelor's degree in business administration awarded by colleges and universities after completion of undergraduate study in the fundamentals of business administration and usually including advanced ...

in 1983 and later his M.I.S. Prior to his current consultant work, he was a partner with Virchow Krause, and also worked for

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and

Epic Systems Epic Systems Corporation, or Epic, is an American privately held healthcare software company. According to the company, hospitals that use its software held medical records of 78% of patients in the United States and over 3% of patients worldwi ...

Minnesota House of Representatives

Downey was first elected to the

in 2008, defeating nine-term Rep.

Ron Erhardt Ronald Peter Erhardt (February 27, 1931 – March 21, 2012) was an American football coach at both the collegiate and professional levels. From 1979 to 1981 he served as head coach of the National Football League's New England Patriots. Early l ...

, and was re-elected in 2010. He was a member of the House's K-12 Education Policy and Oversight Committee and Taxes Committee, and also served on the Finance subcommittees for the Early Childhood Finance and Policy Division, on which he was the ranking minority party member, the Higher Education and Workforce Development Finance and Policy Division, and the State Government Finance Division.

2012 Minnesota Senate campaign

In 2012, after incumbent state senator

Geoff Michel Geoff Michel (born November 13, 1963) is a Minnesota politician and former member of the Minnesota Senate who represented District 41, which included portions of the southwestern Twin Cities suburbs of Edina and Bloomington in Hennepin County. A ...

(Senate District 41) decided not to run for re-election to the Senate, Keith Downey decided not to seek re-election to the House seat (41B) and instead sought election to the State Senate for newly renumbered Senate District 49. In the general election of November 2012, Downey was defeated by the DFL endorsed candidate

Melisa Franzen Melisa López Franzen (née López Aquino, born 1980) is an American politician and member of the Minnesota Senate. A member of the Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party (DFL), she represents District 49 in the southwest Twin Cities metropo ...

. The race was the most expensive in state history.

Leadership of the Republican Party of Minnesota

Downey was elected the Chair of the

on April 6, 2013, succeeding Pat Shortridge.

Personal life

Downey is married to his wife, Amy. They have three children and reside in

Edina, Minnesota Edina ( ) is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States and a first-ring suburb of Minneapolis. The population was 53,494 at the 2020 census, making it the 18th most populous city in Minnesota. Edina began as a small farming and mil ...

. He is a member of the Minneapolis Regional and Edina

chambers of commerce A chamber of commerce, or board of trade, is a form of business network. For example, a local organization of businesses whose goal is to further the interests of businesses. Business owners in towns and cities form these local societies to a ...

. From 2004 to 2007, he served the Minneapolis Regional Chamber as a board member, executive committee member and public policy committee chairman. He was a member of the Hennepin County SW Transportation Corridor Policy Advisory Committee from 2006 to 2008. In 2008, Governor

Tim Pawlenty Timothy James Pawlenty (; born November 27, 1960) is an American attorney, businessman, and politician who served as the 39th governor of Minnesota from 2003 to 2011. A member of the Republican Party, Pawlenty served in the Minnesota House o ...

appointed him as a board member of the Minnesota Academic Excellence Foundation.

References

External links

Keith Downey
''official campaign website''
Rep. Keith Downey profile
Project Vote Smart.
"Planning for the future: Downey hopes to offer proactive ideas for state's future"
''Session Weekly''. February 6, 2009. {{DEFAULTSORT:Downey, Keith 1960 births 21st-century American politicians American Presbyterians Living people Republican Party members of the Minnesota House of Representatives People from Edina, Minnesota University of Wisconsin–Eau Claire alumni State political party chairs of Minnesota