Ronald Steven Latz (born August 9, 1963) is an American attorney and politician serving as a 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 hel ...

. 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 Represen ...

(DFL), he represents District 46, which includes parts of

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 Minneapol ...

in the western

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 statu ...

metropolitan area. He is an attorney by profession.

Early life and education

Latz attended Golden Valley High School in Golden Valley and Lindberg High School in

Hopkins Hopkins is an English, Welsh and Irish patronymic surname. The English name means "son of Hob". ''Hob'' was a diminutive of ''Robert'', itself deriving from the Germanic warrior name ''Hrod-berht'', translated as "renowned-fame". The Robert spell ...

, graduating in 1981. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science from the

University of Wisconsin–Madison A university () is an educational institution, institution of higher education, higher (or Tertiary education, tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. Universities ty ...

and a

Juris Doctor The Juris Doctor (J.D. or JD), also known as Doctor of Jurisprudence (J.D., JD, D.Jur., or DJur), is a graduate-entry professional degree in law and one of several Doctor of Law degrees. The J.D. is the standard degree obtained to practice law ...

from

Harvard Law School Harvard Law School (Harvard Law or HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest continuously operating law school in the United States. Each class ...

Political career

Latz was a Minnesota assistant attorney general for the Public Safety and Human Services Division under Attorney General Hubert Humphrey III from 1989 to 1995, then became a partner in the St. Louis Park law firm of Latz and Latz. Latz has been active on various government and community councils and boards. He was a member of the St. Louis Park

City Council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, rural counc ...

from 1994 to 2003, also serving as

mayor pro tem ''Pro tempore'' (), abbreviated ''pro tem'' or ''p.t.'', is a Latin phrase which best translates to "for the time being" in English. This phrase is often used to describe a person who acts as a ''locum tenens'' (placeholder) in the absence of ...

from 1999 to 2003. He is a former member of the Minnesota Attorney General's task forces on Health Care and Privacy. He is also a former state advocacy chair of the

American Cancer Society The American Cancer Society (ACS) is a nationwide voluntary health organization dedicated to eliminating cancer. Established in 1913, the society is organized into six geographical regions of both medical and lay volunteers operating in more than ...

, a former member of the

Anti-Defamation League The Anti-Defamation League (ADL), formerly known as the Anti-Defamation League of B'nai B'rith, is an international Jewish non-governmental organization based in the United States specializing in civil rights law. It was founded in late Septe ...

's Civil Rights and Education committees, and a former member of the Metropolitan Interfaith Council on Affordable Housing.

Minnesota legislature

Latz was first elected to the Senate in 2006, and reelected in 2010, 2012, 2016, and 2020. Before being elected to the Senate, Latz was 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 Pa ...

, representing District 44B (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 ...

, the area was District 44A). He was first elected to the House in 2002, and reelected in 2004. In the House, he served on the Capital Investment, Civil Law, Education Policy and Reform, and Higher Education Finance committees. His father, Robert Latz, also served in the House, representing the old districts 35 and 39 from 1959 to 1967. He served as a

majority whip A whip is an official of a political party whose task is to ensure party discipline in a legislature. This means ensuring that members of the party vote according to the party platform, rather than according to their own individual ideology ...

from 2007 to 2011. Latz is serving on the following committees for the 2021–22 legislative biennium: * Civil Law and Data Practices Policy * Ranking Minority Chair of Judiciary and Public Safety Finance and Policy His special legislative concerns are criminal and civil justice, consumer protection, and education. Latz supports gun control and supports a bill banning assault weapons. On November 29, 2023, during a press conference to condemn a movement that seeks to boycott or divest from Israel ahead of a meeting of the State Board of Investment, Latz said, "Palestinian youth dream of the opportunity to achieve glory and even martyrdom by killing as many Jews as possible". After he was called out for his statements, he doubled down, saying his colleagues were taking out of context a sentence about Gaza youth and schools that allegedly train terrorists.

Personal life

His father Bob Latz also served in the Minnesota Legislature.Minnesota Legislators: Past & Present-Robert "Bob" Latz
/ref> He is Jewish.

References

External links

Senator Ron Latz
''official Minnesota Senate website''
Minnesota Public Radio Votetracker: Senator Ron LatzProject Vote Smart - Senator Ron Latz ProfileSenator Ron Latz
''official campaign website'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Latz, Ron 1963 births Living people Lawyers from Minneapolis Politicians from Minneapolis Democratic Party members of the Minnesota House of Representatives Democratic Party Minnesota state senators University of Wisconsin–Madison College of Letters and Science alumni Harvard Law School alumni People from St. Louis Park, Minnesota 20th-century American Jews 21st-century American politicians 21st-century American Jews Jewish American state legislators in Minnesota