Bernhard Kent Eken ( ; born December 12, 1963) 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 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 ...

. A member of the

Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party The Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party (DFL) is the Minnesota affiliate of the U.S. Democratic Party. As of 2022, it controls four of Minnesota's eight U.S. House seats, both of its U.S. Senate seats, the Minnesota House of Represen ...

(DFL), he represented

District 4 District 4 can refer to: *District 4, Düsseldorf, in Germany *District 4, Grand Bassa County, in Liberia *District 4 (Ho Chi Minh City), in Vietnam *District 4 (New York City Council), in the United States *IV District, Turku, in Finland *Aussersi ...

, which includes portions of

Becker Becker () is one of the German-language surnames, along with Bäcker and Baecker, that derive from the root, which refers to baking. The surname began as a name for a baker (and thus his family). In northern Germany it can also derive from the ...

Clay Clay is a type of fine-grained natural soil material containing clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g. kaolin, Al2 Si2 O5( OH)4). Clays develop plasticity when wet, due to a molecular film of water surrounding the clay par ...

, and

Norman Norman or Normans may refer to: Ethnic and cultural identity * The Normans, a people partly descended from Norse Vikings who settled in the territory of Normandy in France in the 10th and 11th centuries ** People or things connected with the Norm ...

counties in the northwestern part of the state.

Early life, education, and career

Eken attended Twin Valley High School in Twin Valley, then went on to Concordia College in Moorhead, receiving his

B.A. Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

in political science and education. He later attended St. Cloud State University in St. Cloud, earning his

M.A. A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Tho ...

in history, after which he taught at Saint John's Preparatory School. In addition to his work as a teacher and adjunct college professor, he is a

sugar beets Sugar is the generic name for sweet-tasting, soluble carbohydrates, many of which are used in food. Simple sugars, also called monosaccharides, include glucose, fructose, and galactose. Compound sugars, also called disaccharides or double s ...

truck driver during the harvest season. His father was Willis Eken, who served in the Minnesota House of Representatives.

Minnesota House of Representatives

Eken was elected to 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 ...

, representing District 2A, in 2002, and reelected in 2004, 2006, 2008 and 2010. He served as an

assistant minority leader A whip is an official of a political party whose task is to ensure party discipline in a legislature. This means ensuring that members of the party vote according to the party platform, rather than according to their own individual ideology o ...

, and was the DFL lead on the Agriculture and Rural Development Policy and Finance Committee. He was also a member of the Transportation Policy and Finance and the Ways and Means committees. He was chair of the Environment Policy and Oversight Committee from 2007 to 2010.

Minnesota Senate

In 2012, Eken ran for the newly created

after he was placed in the same district as fellow DFLer

Paul Marquart Paul Marquart (born January 9, 1957) is a Minnesota politician and member of the Minnesota House of Representatives. A member of the Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party, he represents District 4B, which includes parts of Becker, Clay, and ...

. Eken defeated retired football player Phil Hansen in the general election, with over 52% of the vote. He was reelected in 2016 with just over 55% of the vote. In 2020, Eken was reelected with just over 54% of the vote. After his reelection, he was named a Minority Whip. Eken served on the following committees: * Agriculture, Rural Development, and Housing Finance and Policy * Ranking Minority Member Family Care and Aging He decided not to run for reelection in

2022 File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; 2022 Sri Lankan protests, Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretari ...

, and was replaced by Rob Kupec.

References

External links

Senator Kent Eken
''official Minnesota Senate website''
Minnesota Public Radio Votetracker: Rep. Kent Eken

Project Votesmart - Rep. Kent Eken Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Eken, Kent 1963 births Living people People from Norman County, Minnesota Democratic Party members of the Minnesota House of Representatives Democratic Party Minnesota state senators American Lutherans 21st-century American politicians