Michael Benson (born November 9, 1955) is an American 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 26B, which includes portions of Olmsted County in the southeastern part of the state. He is also an assistant college professor for

business administration Business administration, also known as business management, is the administration of a commercial enterprise. It includes all aspects of overseeing and supervising the business operations of an organization. From the point of view of management ...

and the Director of Human Resources at

Crossroads College Crossroads College (originally International Christian Bible College and later Minnesota Bible College) was a four-year, coeducational Christian college in Rochester, Minnesota, United States. It was founded in 1913 and ceased offering classes in ...

in Rochester.

Early life, education, and career

Benson was born in Springfield, Illinois but at an early age his family moved to Bloomington Illinois. He graduated from Bloomington High School in 1973. He started with the United States Postal Service that same year. Benson graduated from Eastern University in

St. Davids, Pennsylvania St. Davids is a primarily residential neighborhood located in the eastern part of Wayne, Pennsylvania. It is served by its own train station. St. Davids is home to the main campus of Eastern University, a four-year, liberal arts university affili ...

, earning 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 organizational management and, later, his

M.B.A. A Master of Business Administration (MBA; also Master's in Business Administration) is a postgraduate degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration such as account ...

He began his career with the

U.S. Postal Service The United States Postal Service (USPS), also known as the Post Office, U.S. Mail, or Postal Service, is an independent agency of the executive branch of the United States federal government responsible for providing postal service in the U. ...

in 1973, holding various management positions until his retirement in 2004. He served as

Postmaster A postmaster is the head of an individual post office, responsible for all postal activities in a specific post office. When a postmaster is responsible for an entire mail distribution organization (usually sponsored by a national government), ...

of Rochester from 1988 until 1995 and, subsequently, served as Postmaster of

Cleveland, Ohio Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...

, and

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

. In 1998, Benson was appointed the postal service's district manager for an area of southeastern Pennsylvania consisting of 362 post offices and 3 processing plants with 6000 employees. From 1996-1998, he was a member of the National Joint Steering Committee for Quality of Work Life and Employee Involvement, a joint project between the

National Rural Letter Carriers' Association The National Rural Letter Carriers' Association (NRLCA) is an American labor union that represents the rural letter carriers of the United States Postal Service. According to its statutes, the purpose of the Association is to "improve the methods ...

and the U.S. Postal Service, and was also a member of the 1994 National Contract Negotiations Team. Benson came to Crossroads College in 2004. In addition to his work as an assistant professor and Director of Human Resources, he served as the Director of Adult Studies and started the college's Compass Adult Degree Completion Program. He also served as the college’s interim president from 2006 until 2008 during the process to fill the vacancy.

Minnesota House of Representatives

Benson was first elected to the House in 2010 and was re-elected in 2012. He did not run for re-election in 2014.

2014 United States congressional campaign

Benson announced on June 17, 2013 that he would run to represent

Minnesota's 1st congressional district Minnesota's 1st congressional district extends across southern Minnesota from the border with South Dakota to the border with Wisconsin. It is a primarily rural district built on a strong history of agriculture, though this is changing rapidly d ...

in the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the Lower house, lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the United States Senate, Senate being ...

References

External links

Rep. Mike Benson
''official Minnesota House of Representatives website''
Mike Benson for Congress
''official congressional campaign website''
Mike Benson
''official Minnesota House of Representatives campaign website''
Project Votesmart - Rep. Mike Benson Profile

Mike Benson Campaign Web Site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Benson, Mike 1955 births Living people Politicians from Bloomington, Illinois Politicians from Rochester, Minnesota Politicians from Springfield, Illinois Republican Party members of the Minnesota House of Representatives Minnesota postmasters Eastern University (United States) alumni 21st-century American politicians Ohio postmasters Pennsylvania postmasters