Rodney Dwight Grams (February 4, 1948 – October 8, 2013) was an American politician and television news anchor who served in both 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 ...

and 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 ...

. A local news anchor, Grams became well-known for working at

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 ...

station

KMSP-TV KMSP-TV (channel 9) is a television station licensed to Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States, broadcasting the Fox network to the Twin Cities area. It is owned and operated by the network's Fox Television Stations division alongside MyNetwo ...

from 1982 until 1991. He was a member of the Republican Party. Grams was born on a farm on

Princeton, Minnesota Princeton is a city in Mille Lacs County, Minnesota, Mille Lacs and Sherburne County, Minnesota, Sherburne counties in the U.S. state of Minnesota, at the junction of the Rum River and its West branch. It is 50 miles north of Minneapolis and 30 m ...

, and worked at several other news stations throughout the

Midwest The Midwestern United States, also referred to as the Midwest or the American Midwest, is one of four Census Bureau Region, census regions of the United States Census Bureau (also known as "Region 2"). It occupies the northern central part of ...

and

Great Plains The Great Plains (french: Grandes Plaines), sometimes simply "the Plains", is a broad expanse of flatland in North America. It is located west of the Mississippi River and east of the Rocky Mountains, much of it covered in prairie, steppe, an ...

before serving as KMSP's senior news anchor. After retiring from television, he launched a successful bid for Congress in

Minnesota's 6th congressional district Minnesota's 6th congressional district includes most or all of Benton, Carver, Sherburne, Stearns, Wright, Anoka, and Washington counties. Many of the Twin Cities' northern and northwestern suburbs are included within the boundaries of t ...

against embattled Democratic incumbent Gerry Sikorski in

1992 File:1992 Events Collage V1.png, From left, clockwise: 1992 Los Angeles riots, Riots break out across Los Angeles, California after the Police brutality, police beating of Rodney King; El Al Flight 1862 crashes into a residential apartment buildi ...

. He served one term, opting to run for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by retiring Republican

David Durenberger David Ferdinand Durenberger (born August 19, 1934) is a retired American politician and attorney. Durenberger represented Minnesota in the United States Senate as a Republican from 1978 to 1995. He left the Republican Party in 2005 and has become ...

in 1994. He won the 1994 Senate election and was defeated for reelection by

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 ...

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...

. Grams sought election to his old Senate seat in

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...

, but dropped out before the Republican primary. He also ran again for election to the House in

Minnesota's 8th congressional district Minnesota's 8th congressional district covers the northeastern part of Minnesota. It is anchored by Duluth, the state's fourth-largest city. It also includes most of the Mesabi & Vermilion iron ranges, and the Boundary Waters Canoe Area in th ...

as the Republican-endorsed candidate but lost to incumbent Democrat

Jim Oberstar James Louis Oberstar (September 10, 1934 – May 3, 2014) was an American politician who served in the United States House of Representatives from 1975 to 2011. A member of the Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party, he represented nor ...

Early life

Grams was born on a farm in

. He attended Brown Institute (1966–68), Anoka-Ramsey Community College (1970–72), and

Carroll College Carroll College is a private Catholic college in Helena, Montana. The college has 21 buildings on a 63-acre campus, has over 35 academic majors, participates in 15 NAIA athletic sports, and is home to All Saints Chapel. The college motto, in L ...

(1974–75). Grams spent 23 years in television and radio broadcasting before launching a career in politics. From 1982 to 1991 he was the senior news anchor at

in Minneapolis/St. Paul. Before that, he worked as a news anchor/producer for

KFBB-TV KFBB-TV (channel 5) is a television station in Great Falls, Montana, United States, affiliated with ABC, Fox and MyNetworkTV. Owned by the Cowles Company, the station maintains studios and transmitter facilities on Old Havre Highway in Black ...

Great Falls, Montana Great Falls is the third most populous city in the U.S. state of Montana and the county seat of Cascade County. The population was 60,442 according to the 2020 census. The city covers an area of and is the principal city of the Great Falls, M ...

;

WSAU-TV WSAW-TV (channel 7) is a television station in Wausau, Wisconsin, United States, affiliated with CBS, MyNetworkTV, and The CW Plus. It is owned by Gray Television alongside low-power Fox affiliate WZAW-LD (channel 33). Both stations share s ...

Wausau, Wisconsin Wausau ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Marathon County, Wisconsin, United States. The Wisconsin River divides the city into east and west. The city's suburbs include Schofield, Weston, Mosinee, Maine, Rib Mountain, Kronenwetter, and ...

; and

WIFR-TV WIFR-LD (channel 23) is a low-power broadcasting#Television, low-power television station in Rockford, Illinois, United States, affiliated with CBS and The CW Plus. The station is owned by Gray Television, and maintains studios and transmitter fac ...

Rockford, Illinois Rockford is a city in Winnebago County, Illinois, located in the far northern part of the state. Situated on the banks of the Rock River, Rockford is the county seat of Winnebago County (a small portion of the city is located in Ogle County). ...

. Before entering broadcasting, Grams worked at an engineering consulting firm for seven years. In 1985, he formed Sun Ridge Builders, a Twin Cities construction and residential development company, serving as its president and CEO. He was involved in architectural design and the use of solar energy in residential homes.

Early political career

Grams launched his political career by winning the 1992 Republican nomination in

. He defeated Democratic incumbent Gerry Sikorski in the general election. During the campaign, Grams benefited from high name recognition in the district—from years as news anchor at

—and Sikorski's involvement in the

House banking scandal The House banking scandal broke in early 1992, when it was revealed that the US House of Representatives allowed its members to overdraw their House checking accounts without the risk of being penalized by the House bank, which was actually a clea ...

. He served in the 103rd Congress as a member of the House of Representatives, and in the 104th, 105th, and 106th congresses as a member of the

U.S. Senate

After

announced he would not seek reelection, Grams surprised many by announcing, just months into his first term in the U.S. House, that he would run for the Senate. Grams faced opposition for the Republican endorsement from State Senator Gen Olson,

Bert McKasy Bert J. McKasy (January 10, 1942 – February 8, 2019) was an American lawyer and politician. Background McKasy was born in Saint Paul, Minnesota. He graduated from Saint Thomas Academy in Mendota Heights, Minnesota. He received his bachelor's a ...

(Durenberger's former chief of staff), and

Doug McFarland Douglas Dale McFarland (born July 18, 1946) is a professor emeritus at Hamline University School of Law, a Minnesota politician, and an author. Biography and Titles He was born in Portland, Oregon and grew up in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. He recei ...

. During the party endorsement process, the Grams campaign closely aligned itself with supporters of

Allen Quist Allen J. Quist (born October 14, 1944) is a Minnesota politician, a former state representative, and a two-time candidate for governor of the state. State representative A Republican, Quist was first elected to the Minnesota House of Represent ...

, who was challenging incumbent Governor

Arne Carlson Arne Helge Carlson (born September 24, 1934) is an American politician who served as the 37th Governor of Minnesota. A Republican, Carlson's viewpoints are considered to be moderate. He first won election to the governors office in 1990. Carlso ...

for reelection in the 1994 gubernatorial race. Weeks before the state Republican convention, McFarland dropped out of the Senate race after endorsing Quist for governor and joining his ticket as Quist's running mate. After numerous ballots at the convention in St. Paul, Grams won the Republican endorsement over Olson and McKasy. He also won the Republican primary against Arne Carlson's Lieutenant Governor

Joanell Dyrstad Joanell M. Dyrstad (born October 15, 1942) is an American politician from Minnesota was the 43rd lieutenant governor of Minnesota, serving from January 7, 1991, to January 3, 1995. She was elected with Governor Arne Carlson. In 1994, Dyrstad ra ...

, who had been replaced as his running mate by State Senator Joanne Benson. In the general election against Democratic Farmer Labor candidate

Ann Wynia Ann Wynia (née Jobe, born September 29, 1943) is an American politician who served in the Minnesota House of Representatives from 1977 to 1989. A member of the Democratic Farmer-Labor Party, Wynia represented portions of the city of St. Paul an ...

and

Independence Party Independence Party may refer to: Active parties Outside United States * Independence Party (Egypt) * Estonian Independence Party * Independence Party (Finland) * Independence Party (Iceland) * Independence Party (Mauritius) * Independence Part ...

candidate

Dean Barkley Dean Malcolm Barkley (born August 31, 1950) is an American attorney and politician who briefly served as a United States Senator from Minnesota from 2002 to 2003 as a member of the Independence Party of Minnesota. The founder and chair of the ...

, Grams won, 49% to 44%. Grams ran for reelection in 2000, losing to

. During the campaign, Grams's wife Christine Gunhus was revealed to have written anonymous disparaging emails about Grams's potential Democratic rival

Mike Ciresi Michael "Mike" V. Ciresi ( ) is a prominent trial attorney and was a Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party candidate for the United States Senate from Minnesota. He dropped out on March 10, 2008. Ciresi gained his public reputation by litigating seve ...

from her home computer. She received a fine and suspended sentence for violating political advertising regulations. The Grams campaign also ran a commercial during the campaign featuring Grams's mother, Audrey Grams, that ended with her saying, "Uffda, vote for Rod."

Post-Senate career

After his 2000 reelection defeat, Grams went back into private business and in 2004 became the owner of three radio stations in

Little Falls, Minnesota Little Falls is a city in Morrison County, Minnesota, United States, near the geographic center of the state. Established in 1848, Little Falls is one of the oldest European-American cities in Minnesota. It is the county seat of Morrison County. ...

. He attempted a political comeback in the 2006 U.S. Senate campaign. He sought the GOP nomination for his former Senate seat, facing Mark Kennedy and

Gil Gutknecht Gilbert William Gutknecht Jr. (born March 20, 1951) is an American politician. Gutknecht was a Republican member of the United States House of Representatives first elected in 1994 to represent Minnesota's 1st congressional district. Gutknec ...

. After a poor showing early in the endorsement process, Grams dropped his Senate candidacy and ran in the 2006 U.S. House election, challenging the incumbent

. Oberstar defeated Grams handily. Grams remained active in politics and interested in running for public office. In 2008, he considered challenging incumbent

Norm Coleman Norman Bertram Coleman Jr. (born August 17, 1949) is an American politician, attorney, and lobbyist. From 2003 to 2009, he served as a United States Senator for Minnesota. From 1994 to 2002, he was mayor of Saint Paul, Minnesota. First elected ...

for the Republican U.S. Senate nomination but was too busy in his private life to make a run, saying, "And my wife (Chris) would have killed me if I would have, because of some things that we're doing." It also became unclear whether Grams would run as a Republican. In an interview, he expressed disappointment at the perceived failings of the party, going as far as to wonder whether he could still call himself a Republican or vote for Republican candidates. Grams considered a 2010 run for governor of Minnesota, saying, "I'm so damn unhappy with the Republicans right now ... I'm so unhappy with the candidates that we have I could puke. I wanted to get out there and mix it up." But Grams endorsed Republican

Tom Emmer Thomas Earl Emmer Jr.Helgeson, Baird, ''Star Tribune'', July 11, 2010. (born March 3, 1961) is an American attorney and politician who has been the U.S. representative for since 2015. The district includes most of the Twin Cities' far northern ...

in the 2010 campaign for governor. Emmer lost the election to Mark Dayton.

Illness and death

On September 4, 2013, it was announced that Grams had been battling

colon cancer Colorectal cancer (CRC), also known as bowel cancer, colon cancer, or rectal cancer, is the development of cancer from the colon or rectum (parts of the large intestine). Signs and symptoms may include blood in the stool, a change in bowel mo ...

since 2012 and was receiving

hospice Hospice care is a type of health care that focuses on the palliation of a terminally ill patient's pain and symptoms and attending to their emotional and spiritual needs at the end of life. Hospice care prioritizes comfort and quality of life by ...

care at his home. He died on October 8, 2013, at his home in

Crown, Minnesota Crown is an unincorporated community in Stanford Township, Isanti County, Minnesota, United States. The community is located north of St. Francis. Isanti County Roads 7 and 8 are two of the main routes in the community. State Highway 47 ( MN ...

, aged 65.

Electoral history

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Grams, Rod 1948 births 2013 deaths American Lutherans American television news anchors Deaths from cancer in Minnesota Carroll College (Montana) alumni Businesspeople from Minnesota Deaths from colorectal cancer People from Princeton, Minnesota Republican Party United States senators from Minnesota Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Minnesota 20th-century American politicians 20th-century American businesspeople 20th-century Lutherans