Kurt P. Bills (born January 8, 1970) is an American

educator A teacher, also called a schoolteacher or formally an educator, is a person who helps students to acquire knowledge, competence, or virtue, via the practice of teaching. ''Informally'' the role of teacher may be taken on by anyone (e.g. whe ...

and former

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 ...

. He has taught and coached high school since 1994. He served on the Rosemount City Council from 2008 to 2010. He then served in 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 ...

from 2011 to 2012. In 2012, he received the

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

nomination for

United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and pow ...

and ran against Democratic incumbent

Amy Klobuchar Amy Jean Klobuchar ( ; born May 25, 1960) is an American lawyer and politician serving as the senior United States senator from Minnesota, a seat she has held since 2007. A member of the Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party (DFL), Minne ...

. Klobuchar was reelected by a margin of 35%. Bills never left the classroom during his stint in politics, choosing to teach at least one class even while running a statewide race.

Early life, education, and early career

Bills attended

Winona State University Winona State University (Winona) is a public university in Winona, Minnesota. It was founded as First State Normal School of Minnesota in 1858 and is the oldest member of the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities System. It was the first no ...

earning a

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 secondary social studies education,

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 US history, and

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 education. Since 1996, Bills has worked as a secondary social studies teacher at

Rosemount High School Rosemount High School is a public four-year high school in Rosemount, Minnesota, United States, founded in 1918. The school is one of four four-year high schools in Independent School District 196 (Rosemount-Apple Valley-Eagan School District). ...

, teaching courses in

Microeconomics Microeconomics is a branch of mainstream economics that studies the behavior of individuals and firms in making decisions regarding the allocation of scarce resources and the interactions among these individuals and firms. Microeconomics fo ...

Macroeconomics Macroeconomics (from the Greek prefix ''makro-'' meaning "large" + ''economics'') is a branch of economics dealing with performance, structure, behavior, and decision-making of an economy as a whole. For example, using interest rates, taxes, and ...

and American Government & Politics. He is also the former head coach of the wrestling team.

Early political life

In 2008, Bills was elected to the Rosemount City Council from a field of 26 candidates. Bills cited his students for his reason to enter the political arena. In Bills words: "In 2007, when studying fiscal policy, national debt, deficits, and entitlements, a student asked why solutions are not sought if we know that we have structural problems. I explained how politicians make self-interested choices just like the rest of us. After a short discussion about party structure, media and election cycle politics, one of my more politically active students, in a mixture of depression, anger and frustration asked, 'Mr. Bills, what are we supposed to do about this?'"

Minnesota House of Representatives

2010 election

Bills ran for the

in 2010 in District 37B. He defeated incumbent Democratic State Representative

Phil Sterner Phillip M. Sterner (born 1960) is a Minnesota politician, DFL Party member and former member of the Minnesota House of Representatives who represented State Senate District 37B, which included portions of Dakota County in the southeastern Twin Ci ...

, 58%–42%.

Tenure

Bills's district included Rosemount and parts of Apple Valley, in the southeastern

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. Bills was a chief author of bills supporting scholarships for early high school graduation; reduction of pay for legislators if the budget were not balanced by the end of the legislative session; and making gold and silver legal tender in Minnesota. On May 21, 2011, Bills joined the House Republican Majority in voting for a constitutional amendment to constitutionally ban marriage for same-sex couples. He was also among those legislators during the July 2011 Minnesota government shutdown who declined their pay.

Committee assignments

*House Committee on Capital Investment *House Committee on Education/Finance *House Committee on Taxes

2012 U.S. Senate election

In March 2012, Bills announced his candidacy for the

U.S. Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and powe ...

seat held by

. He was endorsed by GOP presidential contender

Ron Paul Ronald Ernest Paul (born August 20, 1935) is an American author, activist, physician and retired politician who served as the U.S. representative for Texas's 22nd congressional district from 1976 to 1977 and again from 1979 to 1985, as well ...

, U.S. Senator

Rand Paul Randal Howard Paul (born January 7, 1963) is an American physician and politician serving as the junior U.S. senator from Kentucky since 2011. A member of the Republican Party, he is a son of former three-time presidential candidate and 12 ...

and Minnesota House Speaker

Kurt Zellers Kurt Zellers (born October 16, 1969) is an American politician who served as speaker of the Minnesota House of Representatives from 2011 to 2013 and minority leader from 2009 to 2011. A member of the Republican Party of Minnesota, he represente ...

. At the state Republican convention in May 2012, Bills received the Senate endorsement on the second ballot. He won the Republican primary on August 14, 2012. Klobuchar defeated Bills in the general election on November 6, 2012. Bills carried only two counties ( Rock County and Pipestone County) while Klobuchar swept the rest of the state, winning with 65% of the vote.

Post-election professional life

In March 2013, Forbes.com added Bills as a contributor to its website. In July 2013, H&H Partners Consulting Corporation named Bills to its board of directors as Executive Chairman and a Senior Advisor.

Personal life

Bills and his wife, Cindy, own a licensed home daycare that she operates. They reside in Rosemount with their four children.

References

External links

Rep. Bills
at the Minnesota House of Representatives
Kurt Bills Campaign Web Site
*
Campaign contributions
at

OpenSecrets.org OpenSecrets is a nonprofit organization based in Washington, D.C., that tracks data on campaign finance and lobbying. It was created from a merger of the Center for Responsive Politics (CRP) and the National Institute on Money in Politics (NIMP). ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bills, Kurt 1970 births 21st-century American politicians Living people Republican Party members of the Minnesota House of Representatives People from Rosemount, Minnesota