Paul M. Torkelson (born July 12, 1952) is an American politician serving as a 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 ...

since 2009. 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 ...

, Torkelson represents District 15B in southwestern

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 ...

, which includes the city of New Ulm and all or parts of Blue Earth,

Brown Brown is a color. It can be considered a composite color, but it is mainly a darker shade of orange. In the CMYK color model used in printing or painting, brown is usually made by combining the colors orange and black. In the RGB color model used ...

, and

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Counties.

Early life, education and career

Torkelson earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in instrumental music education from

Gustavus Adolphus College Gustavus Adolphus College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in St. Peter, Minnesota. It was founded in 1862 by Swedish Americans led by Eric Norelius and is affiliated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. Gustavus gets its nam ...

in 1974. In 2006, 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 Torkelson to the Minnesota Governor's Clean Water Council, a position he held until his election to the House. He is a member of the Minnesota's Deer Hunters Association, a former vice president of the Minnesota

Farm Bureau The American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF), also known as Farm Bureau Insurance and Farm Bureau Inc. but more commonly just the Farm Bureau (FB), is a United States-based insurance company and lobbying group that represents the American agri ...

, and a former chair of St. James Health Services. Torkelson is a fourth-generation Watonwan County corn, soybean and pork farmer, with family roots in the area since 1878, and a former music teacher.

Minnesota House of Representatives

Torkelson was elected to the

in 2008, succeeding incumbent Representative

Brad Finstad Bradley Howard Finstad (born May 30, 1976) is an American farmer, agricultural consultant, and politician serving as the U.S. representative for . Finstad represents a large section of southern Minnesota situated along the border with Iowa. The d ...

, who decided not to seek reelection, and has been reelected every two years since. Torkelson was an assistant majority leader during the 2011-12 legislative session and an assistant minority leader from 2013-14. He chaired the Capital Investment Committee in 2015-16, and the Transportation Finance Committee in 2017-18. During the 2021-22 legislative session, Torkelson again served as an assistant majority leader. After the 2022 election, he was appointed to serve as deputy minority leader by incoming Minority Leader

Lisa Demuth Lisa Demuth (born February 10, 1967) is an American politician serving in the Minnesota House of Representatives since 2019. A member of the Republican Party of Minnesota, Demuth represents District 13A in central Minnesota, which includes the ci ...

. Torkelson is also the minority lead on the Elections Finance and Policy Committee and Ethics Committees and sits on the Rules and Legislative Administration Committee.

Electoral history

References

External links

Rep. Torkelson Web Page

Project Votesmart – Rep. Paul Torkelson Profile

Paul Torkelson Campaign Web Site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Torkelson, Paul 1952 births Living people People from Brown County, Minnesota Gustavus Adolphus College alumni Republican Party members of the Minnesota House of Representatives American Lutherans 21st-century American politicians