Patty Acomb (born September 28, 1965) is an American politician serving 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 ...

since 2019. 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), Acomb represents District 45B in the western

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, which includes the city of

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

and parts of

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 ...

Early life, education, and career

Acomb was born in

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

, and graduated from

Hopkins High School Hopkins High School is a public high school located in Minnetonka, Minnesota, United States. Minnetonka is a southwestern suburb of Minneapolis. It offers classes for grades 10, 11, and 12, making it one of the only schools in the state still wi ...

. She 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 ...

, graduating with 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 of ...

in natural resources. Acomb has worked at the

Minnesota Department of Natural Resources The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, or Minnesota DNR, is the agency of the U.S. state of Minnesota charged with conserving and managing the state's natural resources. The agency maintains areas such as state parks, state forests, recre ...

and the

Environmental Services. She also worked on energy policy for the National League of Cities. Acomb was elected to the

Park Board in 2009 and then to the Minnetonka City Council from 2012 until her election to the state legislature. While a council member, she served on the Bassett Creek Watershed Management Commission, the

Metropolitan Council The Metropolitan Council, commonly abbreviated Met Council or Metro Council, is the regional governmental agency and metropolitan planning organization in Minnesota serving the Twin Cities seven-county metropolitan area, accounting for over 55 pe ...

Water Supply Advisory Committee, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's governmental advisory committee. Governor

Mark Dayton Mark Brandt Dayton (born January 26, 1947) is an American politician who served as the 40th governor of Minnesota from 2011 to 2019. He was a United States Senator for Minnesota from 2001 to 2007, and the Minnesota State Auditor from 1991 to 1 ...

appointed Acomb to the Minnesota Board of Water and Soil Resources from 2015 to 2018.

Minnesota House of Representatives

Acomb was elected to the

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

and has been reelected every two years since. She first ran after two-term DFL incumbent

Jon Applebaum Jon Applebaum (born February 13, 1985) is a financial professional and former attorney and American politician, who was a member of the Minnesota House of Representatives. A member of the Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party (DFL), he repr ...

announced he would not seek reelection. Acomb chairs the Climate and Energy Finance and Policy Committee and sits on the Health Finance and Policy, Sustainable Infrastructure Policy, and Ways and Means Committees. In 2019, she founded and was named chair of the Minnesota House Climate Action Caucus. From 2021 to 2022, Acomb served as vice chair of the Climate and Energy Finance and Policy Committee.

Climate and energy

Acomb led efforts to move Minnesota to zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. She has supported weatherization, and stated she "preferred carrots rather than sticks" to incentivize a transition to a green economy. She authored legislation to give schools grants to install solar energy systems and incorporate teaching about energy into their curricula. She also proposed an amendment to bar public utilities from giving subsidies to builders to use natural gas. Acomb attended the

COP26 The 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference, more commonly referred to as COP26, was the 26th United Nations Climate Change conference, held at the SEC Centre in Glasgow, Scotland, United Kingdom, from 31 October to 13 November 2021. The ...

climate change conference in

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

in 2021.

Electoral history

Personal life

Acomb and her husband, Craig, have two children. She resides in

References

External links

Official House of Representatives website

Official campaign website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Acomb, Patty Living people Democratic Party members of the Minnesota House of Representatives 21st-century American legislators 21st-century American women politicians Women state legislators in Minnesota Hopkins High School alumni 1965 births 21st-century Minnesota politicians