Theodore J. "Ted" Winter (born November 26, 1949) is a

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 ...

politician and a 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 ...

from southwestern Minnesota. First elected in 1986 in the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party's "firestorm" that swept through the region, giving Democrats unprecedented control of southwestern Minnesota for the next several election cycles, Winter served eight terms. He was re-elected in 1988, 1990, 1992, 1994, 1996, 1998 and 2000. He represented the old District 28A and, later, District 22A, which included all or portions of Cottonwood,

Jackson Jackson may refer to: People and fictional characters * Jackson (name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the surname or given name Places Australia * Jackson, Queensland, a town in the Maranoa Region * Jackson North, Q ...

Lyon Lyon,, ; Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the third-largest city and second-largest metropolitan area of France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of t ...

Murray Murray may refer to: Businesses * Murray (bicycle company), an American manufacturer of low-cost bicycles * Murrays, an Australian bus company * Murray International Trust, a Scottish investment trust * D. & W. Murray Limited, an Australian who ...

Nobles Nobility is a social class found in many societies that have an aristocracy. It is normally ranked immediately below royalty. Nobility has often been an estate of the realm with many exclusive functions and characteristics. The characteristi ...

and

Redwood Sequoioideae, popularly known as redwoods, is a subfamily of coniferous trees within the family Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affini ...

counties, changing somewhat through

redistricting Redistribution (re-districting in the United States and in the Philippines) is the process by which electoral districts are added, removed, or otherwise changed. Redistribution is a form of boundary delimitation that changes electoral dist ...

in 1992.

Background and education

From the small farm town of

Fulda Fulda () (historically in English called Fuld) is a town in Hesse, Germany; it is located on the river Fulda and is the administrative seat of the Fulda district (''Kreis''). In 1990, the town hosted the 30th Hessentag state festival. History ...

, Winter graduated from Fulda High School in 1967, then went on to

Worthington Community College Minnesota West Community and Technical College is a public community and technical college in Minnesota with five campuses: Canby, Granite Falls, Jackson, Pipestone, and Worthington. The college also has learning centers in Luverne, Marshall, ...

Worthington Worthington may refer to: People * Worthington (surname) * Worthington family, a British noble family Businesses * Worthington Brewery, also known as Worthington's * Worthington Corporation, founded as a pump manufacturer in 1845, later a dive ...

, graduating in 1970. He and his family maintain a farm in Nobles County just outside Fulda.

Advocate for farmers and legislative leadership

A farmer himself, Winter earned a reputation as a strong advocate for farmers and agricultural issues during his time in office. He had also been an advocate of the somewhat militant Groundswell movement in the mid-1980s in its quest to bring political and social change on behalf of the region's farmers. While in the legislature, Winter was a member of the House Agriculture, Economic Development, Environment and Natural Resources, Financial Institutions and Insurance, Governmental Operations, Insurance, Local and Urban Affairs, Rules and Legislative Administration, Taxes, Transportation and Transit, and Ways and Means committees, and of various sub-committees relevant to each area. He served as

majority leader In U.S. politics (as well as in some other countries utilizing the presidential system), the majority floor leader is a partisan position in a legislative body.

during the 1997–1999 biennium under House Speaker

Phil Carruthers Phil Carruthers (born December 8, 1953) is an American judge and former Minnesota politician and former member and Speaker of the Minnesota House of Representatives. He is also the former director of the Civil Division at the Ramsey County Atto ...

Service to the Minnesota Farmer's Union

In 1998, Winter appeared before the

United States House Committee on Agriculture The U.S. House Committee on Agriculture, or Agriculture Committee is a standing committee of the United States House of Representatives. The House Committee on Agriculture has general jurisdiction over federal agriculture policy and oversight of s ...

to testify on behalf of the National Farmer's Union regarding the state of the agricultural economy. He ran for president of the Minnesota branch of the organization in 2002, losing to former Minnesota state representative Doug Peterson. After his service in the legislature concluded, Winter took a position in Windom as an

agent Agent may refer to: Espionage, investigation, and law *, spies or intelligence officers * Law of agency, laws involving a person authorized to act on behalf of another ** Agent of record, a person with a contractual agreement with an insuranc ...

with the Minnesota Farmer's Union, which is a non-profit membership-based organization that works to protect and enhance the economic interests and quality of life of family farmers and ranchers and rural communities.

2010 House campaign

On June 1, 2010, Winter filed for the open House seat in District 22A, seeking to regain the position he lost to outgoing Rep.

Doug Magnus Douglas Rudy Magnus (born November 1950) is an American, Minnesota politician and a former member of the Minnesota Senate, who represented District 22, which includes all of Cottonwood, Jackson, Murray, Nobles, Pipestone and Rock counties in ...

in 2002. In announcing his candidacy, Winter stated he believed his "leadership abilities and past experience can make a real difference next year as we face another deep budget deficit," adding that he was "especially concerned that rural Minnesota be treated equitably" and "should not be expected to bear more than our fair share of budget cuts." He was unsuccessful in his comeback bid, losing the November 2, 2010, general election to

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 ...

newcomer

Joe Schomacker Joseph "Joe" Roy Schomacker (born March 25, 1986) is an American politician and member of the Minnesota House of Representatives. A member of the Republican Party of Minnesota, he represents District 22A, which includes all or portions of Cottonw ...

of Luverne.http://www.dglobe.com/event/article/id/42582/publisher_ID/24/

References

External links

Testimony of Ted Winter before the U.S. House Agriculture Committee 7/30/1998
* ttp://politicsinminnesota.com/blog/2010/06/former-house-leader-winter-seeks-to-regain-seat/ Former House leader Winter seeks to regain seat – Politics in Minnesota 6/1/2010 {{DEFAULTSORT:Winter, Ted 1949 births Living people People from Nobles County, Minnesota Democratic Party members of the Minnesota House of Representatives 21st-century American legislators People from Fulda, Minnesota 21st-century Minnesota politicians