Dean L. Urdahl (born August 18, 1949) is an American politician serving in 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 2003. 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 ...

, Urdahl represents District 16A in central

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 cities of Litchfield and

Montevideo Montevideo () is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Uruguay, largest city of Uruguay. According to the 2011 census, the city proper has a population of 1,319,108 (about one-third of the country's total population) in an area of . M ...

, Renville County, and parts of Chippewa, Kandiyohi, and Meeker Counties. He is a retired teacher and coach.

Early life, education, and career

Urdahl grew up in

Litchfield, Minnesota Litchfield is a city in and the county seat of Meeker County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 6,624 at the 2020 census. History Immigration to the county was slow until the St. Paul, Minneapolis and Manitoba Railroad, later the ca ...

. His roots run deep in the area: his ancestors helped settle Litchfield Township in 1856. He graduated from Litchfield High School and

St. Cloud State University St. Cloud State University (SCSU) is a public university in St. Cloud, Minnesota. Founded in 1869, the university is one of the largest institutions in the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities system. Its enrollment in 2020 was approximately ...

, earning a

B.S. A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University of ...

in social studies. He got his start in politics working on

U.S. Representative 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 chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they c ...

John Zwach John Matthew Zwach Sr. (February 8, 1907 – November 11, 1990) is an American farmer, rural school teacher, and politician. Zwach was most notably a U.S. Representative from Minnesota. He also served for several terms in the Minnesota legi ...

's campaign staff in 1970. Urdahl was an American history teacher and coach in the

New London New London may refer to: Places United States *New London, Alabama *New London, Connecticut *New London, Indiana *New London, Iowa * New London, Maryland *New London, Minnesota *New London, Missouri *New London, New Hampshire, a New England town * ...

- Spicer School District from 1971 to 2006. He has served on the Minnesota Education in Agriculture Leadership Council, the Minnesota Commission on Public Service Reform, and the Minnesota State Board of Nursing. In July 2008, he was appointed as the Minnesota representative to the

Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Commission Abraham, ; ar, , , name=, group= (originally Abram) is the common Hebrew patriarch of the Abrahamic religions, including Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. In Judaism, he is the founding father of the special relationship between the Jews ...

. In 2012 Urdahl was named co-chair of the Minnesota Civil War Sesquicentennial Task Force. Urdahl has written a book about former members of the

Minnesota Twins The Minnesota Twins are an American professional baseball team based in Minneapolis. The Twins compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central Division. The team is named after the Twin Cities area w ...

baseball team and another about famous Minnesotans. He has written four books of historical fiction set in Minnesota during the

Dakota War of 1862 The Dakota War of 1862, also known as the Sioux Uprising, the Dakota Uprising, the Sioux Outbreak of 1862, the Dakota Conflict, the U.S.-Dakota War of 1862, or Little Crow's War, was an armed conflict between the United States and several ban ...

. Urdahl also wrote two historical novels about Minnesota's soldiers in the American Civil War, concentrating on the war's western theater. Urdahl married Karen Frantti in 1971. They have three sons and 11 grandchildren. He is a

Lutheran Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Catholic Church launched th ...

Minnesota House of Representatives

Urdahl ran as the

Independent-Republican Party 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 ...

candidate for the

District 15B in 1992 and 1994, losing to incumbent

Roger Cooper Roger M. Cooper (born November 8, 1944) is a Minnesota politician and a former member of the Minnesota House of Representatives from southwestern Minnesota. First elected in 1986 in the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party's "firestorm" that swept th ...

. In 1996, he ran in the Republican primary for District 15B, losing to Drew Hultgren. Urdahl was elected to the

House A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air condi ...

in 2002, after incumbent

Gary Kubly Gary W. Kubly (November 12, 1943 – March 2, 2012) was a Minnesota politician and a member of the Minnesota Senate who represented District 20, which includes portions of Big Stone, Chippewa, Kandiyohi, Lac qui Parle, Lincoln, McLeod, M ...

retired, and has been reelected every two years since. In 2011-12 and 2015-16 he chaired the Legacy Division, which oversees funds raised by the Clean Water, Land and Legacy Amendment to the Minnesota Constitution. During the 2017-18 legislative session, Urdahl chaired the Capital Investment Committee. He serves as the minority lead on the Capital Investment Committee and sits on the Education Policy Committee. Urdahl was instrumental in obtaining funding for the Minnesota State Capitol restoration and was named to serve on the Capitol Restoration Commission his committee established.

Electoral history

References

External links

Rep. Urdahl Web Page

Minnesota Public Radio Votetracker: Rep. Dean Urdahl

Project Votesmart - Rep. Dean Urdahl Profile

Dean Urdahl Campaign Web Site

{{DEFAULTSORT:Urdahl, Dean 1949 births Living people People from Meeker County, Minnesota Republican Party members of the Minnesota House of Representatives Lutherans from Minnesota American male writers 21st-century American legislators 21st-century Minnesota politicians