Christine Ann "Chris" Eaton (born January 5, 1954) is an American politician and member of the

Minnesota Senate The Minnesota Senate is the upper house of the Legislature of the U.S. state of Minnesota. At 67 members, half as many as the Minnesota House of Representatives, it is the largest upper house of any U.S. state legislature. Floor sessions are h ...

. 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 Repr ...

(DFL), she represents District 40, which includes the cities of

Brooklyn Center Brooklyn Center is a first-ring suburban city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul metropolitan area. In 1911, the area became a village formed from parts of Brooklyn Township and Crystal Lake Township. I ...

and Brooklyn Park in

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 Minneapo ...

in the

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 sta ...

metropolitan area.

Early life, education, and career

Eaton graduated from Anoka-Ramsey Community College, where she earned her nursing degree. Eaton is a registered nurse and a member of the

Minnesota Nurses Association The Minnesota Nurses Association (MNA) is a labor union representing 22,000 registered nurses in the U.S. state of Minnesota. MNA represents the majority of bedside nurses in the state of Minnesota, as well as nurses in Wisconsin and Iowa. They ar ...

. She has been Director of Health Services at Mental Health Resources since 2009, and previously worked as a nurse at Ramsey County Mental Health Initiative from 1998 to 2008, and as a nurse and human services tech at Anoka Metro Regional Treatment Center from 1991 to 1998.

Minnesota Senate

She won a special election on October 18, 2011, held to fill a vacancy that arose upon the death of long-time Senator Linda Scheid on June 15, 2011. Following redistricting Eaton was placed in District 40. She ran unopposed in 2012 and was re-elected in 2016. Eaton was reelected in 2020, and is currently serving on the following committees: * Environment and Natural Resources Finance * Health and Human Services Finance and Policy * Ranking Minority Chair of Human Services Licensing Policy

Personal life

Eaton and her husband, Tim Willson, are the parents of two children. He was mayor of Brooklyn Center, but lost the mayoral election in 2018 to Mike Elliot.

References

External links

Senator Chris Eaton
''official Minnesota Senate website''
Senator Chris Eaton
''official campaign website'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Eaton, Chris Living people 1954 births Democratic Party Minnesota state senators People from Brooklyn Center, Minnesota Women state legislators in Minnesota Anoka-Ramsey Community College alumni 21st-century American legislators 21st-century American women politicians 21st-century Minnesota politicians