Richard J. Cohen (born December 10, 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 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), he represented District 64, which includes portions of the city of

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; ...

in Ramsey County.

Early life and education

Cohen was born in

and graduated from Highland Park High School. He earned his

B.A. Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four yea ...

from

Northwestern University Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston, Illinois. Founded in 1851, Northwestern is the oldest chartered university in Illinois and is ranked among the most prestigious academic institutions in the world. Charte ...

Evanston, Illinois Evanston ( ) is a city, suburb of Chicago. Located in Cook County, Illinois, United States, it is situated on the North Shore along Lake Michigan. Evanston is north of Downtown Chicago, bordered by Chicago to the south, Skokie to the west, ...

, and his J.D. from

William Mitchell College of Law William Mitchell College of Law was a private, independent law school located in St. Paul, Minnesota, United States, from 1956 to 2015. Accredited by the American Bar Association (ABA), it offered full- and part-time legal education in pursuit of ...

in Saint Paul.

Minnesota Legislature

Cohen was first elected to the Minnesota Legislature in 1976. He served as a 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 ...

for District 63B and, after redistricting in 1982, for District 64B. He was elected senator for District 64 in 1986, gaining the lone Republican-held Senate seat within 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 ...

. He was reelected in the 1990, 1992, 1996, 2000, 2002, 2006, 2010, 2012, and 2016 elections. Cohen was chair of the Senate Finance Committee from 2003 to 2011 and chair of the Senate State Government Finance Committee from 1997 to 2001. On November 3, 2009, President

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the ...

announced Cohen's appointment to the

President's Committee on the Arts and Humanities The President's Committee on the Arts and the Humanities (PCAH) was an advisory committee to the White House on cultural issues. It worked directly with the Administration and the three primary cultural agencies: the National Endowment for the Art ...

. Cohen is considered by many to be the leading champion for the arts in the Minnesota Legislature. He led the campaign to include funding for the arts in the Clean Water, Land and Legacy constitutional amendment that Minnesota voters approved in 2008. In 2019,

Erin Murphy Erin Margaret Murphy (born June 17, 1964) is an American actress, who is best known for her role as young Tabitha Stephens in the television sitcom ''Bewitched'', in 103 episodes from the show's third season (in 1966) to the last original episo ...

announced that she would be running to unseat Cohen in the DFL primary. On November 17, Cohen announced that he would not be running for re-election in 2020.

Personal life

Cohen serves on the board of the

Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra The Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra (SPCO) is a full-time professional chamber orchestra based in Saint Paul, Minnesota. In collaboration with five Artistic Partners, the orchestra's musicians present more than 130 concerts and educational programs ea ...

. He previously served on the Guthrie Theater board.

Electoral history

References

External links

Senator Dick Cohen
''official Minnesota Senate website''
Senator Dick Cohen
''official campaign website''
Minnesota Public Radio - Votetracker: Richard J. Cohen Voting RecordProject Vote Smart - Senator Richard J. 'Dick' Cohen Profile
*''Follow the Money'' - Richard Cohen Campaign Contributions
20062004200220001996
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cohen, Dick Living people 1949 births Democratic Party Minnesota state senators Democratic Party members of the Minnesota House of Representatives Jewish American state legislators in Minnesota People from Ramsey County, Minnesota Politicians from Saint Paul, Minnesota Northwestern University alumni William Mitchell College of Law alumni Minnesota lawyers 21st-century American politicians 21st-century American Jews