Torrey Westrom (born March 27, 1973) is an American businessman and politician and member of the
Minnesota Senate. A
Republican, he represents District 12, which includes all or parts of
Big Stone,
Douglas
Douglas may refer to:
People
* Douglas (given name)
* Douglas (surname)
Animals
*Douglas (parrot), macaw that starred as the parrot ''Rosalinda'' in Pippi Longstocking
*Douglas the camel, a camel in the Confederate Army in the American Civil W ...
,
Grant,
Pope,
Stearns,
Stevens,
Traverse and
Wilkin Counties. He is the first known
blind person to be elected to the
Minnesota Legislature
The Minnesota Legislature is the bicameral legislature of the U.S. state of Minnesota consisting of two houses: the Senate and the House of Representatives. Senators are elected from 67 single-member districts. In order to account for decennia ...
.
Political career
Westrom has served on several legislative commissions, including the Rural Health Care Advisory Task Force, the Secretary of State's voting equipment task force, and the Minnesota Legislative Audit Commission. In 2002,
President George W. Bush
George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...
appointed him to a four-year term on a federal advisory panel called the Ticket to Work. The panel advised
Congress and the
White House on return-to-work programs for people with
disabilities
Disability is the experience of any condition that makes it more difficult for a person to do certain activities or have equitable access within a given society. Disabilities may be cognitive, developmental, intellectual, mental, physical, se ...
.
Minnesota House of Representatives
Westrom is a former member of the
Minnesota House of Representatives representing District 11A. He was first elected in 1996 and was reelected every two years until he ran for the Minnesota Senate. Before the 2002 legislative
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 ...
, he represented the old District 13A.
Minnesota Senate
Westrom was elected to the Minnesota Senate in 2012. As a senator, he has promoted affordable, reliable energy for Minnesota and supported investments in clean energy, such as research into "green ammonia" at the University of Minnesota-Morris and other carbon-free gas energy solutions.
Run for Congress
In December 2013, less than a year into his Senate term, Westrom announced that he would challenge incumbent
Collin Peterson in
Minnesota's 7th congressional district in 2014. He kicked off his campaign with events in
Elbow Lake and
Moorhead. He raised over $84,000 in the first month of his campaign.
In the November general election, he won 46% of the vote, the highest Republican tally against Peterson since 1990.
Personal life
Westrom and his wife own TSI Real Estate, based in Elbow Lake, with properties in
Hutchinson,
Saint Paul
Paul; grc, Παῦλος, translit=Paulos; cop, ⲡⲁⲩⲗⲟⲥ; hbo, פאולוס השליח (previously called Saul of Tarsus;; ar, بولس الطرسوسي; grc, Σαῦλος Ταρσεύς, Saũlos Tarseús; tr, Tarsuslu Pavlus; ...
,
Madelia, and elsewhere.
References
External links
Senator Torrey Westrom''official Minnesota Senate website''
Minnesota Public Radio Vote Tracker: Rep. Westrom Torrey Westrom''official campaign website''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Westrom, Torrey
Living people
1973 births
Blind politicians
Republican Party Minnesota state senators
William Mitchell College of Law alumni
Minnesota lawyers
People from Elbow Lake, Minnesota
People from Golden Valley, Minnesota
American evangelicals
American politicians with disabilities
American blind people
21st-century American politicians
20th-century American politicians
Candidates in the 2014 United States elections
Blind lawyers
American lawyers with disabilities