Timothy Joseph Penny (born November 19, 1951) is an American author, musician, and former politician from

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 ...

. Penny was a Democratic-Farmer-Labor member of the

United States House of Representatives 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 house, lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the United States Senate, Senate being ...

, 1983–1995, representing Minnesota's 1st congressional district in the 98th, 99th, 100th,

101st The 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) ("Screaming Eagles") is a light infantry division (military), division of the United States Army that specializes in air assault military operation, operations. It can plan, coordinate, and execute mul ...

, 102nd and 103rd congresses.

Early life

Penny was born in

Albert Lea, Minnesota Albert Lea is a city in Freeborn County, in southern Minnesota. It is the county seat. Its population was 18,492 at the 2020 census. The city is at the junction of Interstates 35 and 90, about south of the Twin Cities. It is on the shores of ...

, and was educated at

Winona State University Winona State University (Winona) is a public university in Winona, Minnesota. It was founded as First State Normal School of Minnesota in 1858 and is the oldest member of the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities System. It was the first no ...

, receiving a bachelor's degree in political science in 1974. He was a member of the

Minnesota State 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 ...

, 1976–1982. Penny served in the United States Naval Reserve and was commissioned a lieutenant commander.

Political career

In 1982, Penny won the DFL nomination for the 1st District and upset four-term 2nd District

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

Tom Hagedorn, becoming only the third Democrat to ever represent this district. Leading up to the election, Republicans were divided after the conservative Hagedorn narrowly defeated two-term First District moderate incumbent, Rep.

Arlen Erdahl Arlen Ingolf Erdahl (born February 27, 1931) is an American commercial farmer and former politician. He served as a member of the Minnesota House of Representatives from 1963 to 1970, Minnesota Secretary of State from 1971–1975 and was a U. ...

, in a contentious Republican Convention endorsement contest after redistricting; in addition, Democrats made large gains in congressional elections across the country, which contributed to Penny's victory. Penny was reelected in 1984 with 56 percent of the vote, becoming the first non-Republican to win reelection in the district since statehood. He never faced another contest nearly that close, winning four more times by an average of 70 percent of the vote. Penny was a somewhat conservative Democrat; he opposed gun control and abortion (though he has since become pro-choice). These stances were typical for a mostly rural district in southern Minnesota. He was best known, however, for his work on fiscal policy. Although he had built a nearly unbreakable hold on his district, he announced in 1994 that he would not run for a seventh term. After

Jesse Ventura Jesse Ventura (born James George Janos; July 15, 1951) is an American politician, actor, and retired professional wrestler. After achieving fame in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF), he served as the 38th governor of Minnesota from 1999 to 2 ...

was elected governor in 1998, Penny served an informal advisory role to the governor and assisted with the gubernatorial transition team.

2002 Minnesota gubernatorial election

When Governor Ventura decided not to stand for reelection in

2002 File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains East Timor independence, indepe ...

, he recruited Penny to join the

Independence Party Independence Party may refer to: Active parties Outside United States * Independence Party (Egypt) * Estonian Independence Party * Independence Party (Finland) * Independence Party (Iceland) * Independence Party (Mauritius) * Independence Part ...

, and run as his replacement. Polls indicated a dead heat between him, DFL candidate Roger Moe, and Republican candidate

Tim Pawlenty Timothy James Pawlenty (; born November 27, 1960) is an American attorney, businessman, and politician who served as the 39th governor of Minnesota from 2003 to 2011. A member of the Republican Party, Pawlenty served in the Minnesota House o ...

less than a month before the election. His running mate for the election was state senator Martha Robertson of

Minnetonka Minnetonka ( ) is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States. A western suburb of the Twin Cities, Minnetonka is located about west of downtown Minneapolis. As of the 2020 census, the city's population was 53,781. Minnetonka is the ...

, a moderate

. In the end, Penny was unsuccessful in his campaign. Penny is the most recent Independence Party gubernatorial candidate to exceed 15% of the vote.

Electoral history

*2002 Race for Governor **

(R), 44% ** Roger Moe (DFL), 36% **Tim Penny (IPM.), 16% **Ken Pentel (Grn), 2%

Post-Congressional career

In 2008, he endorsed Republican

John McCain John Sidney McCain III (August 29, 1936 – August 25, 2018) was an American politician and United States Navy officer who served as a United States senator from Arizona from 1987 until his death in 2018. He previously served two terms ...

for president and

candidate former senator

Dean Barkley Dean Malcolm Barkley (born August 31, 1950) is an American attorney and politician who briefly served as a United States Senator from Minnesota from 2002 to 2003 as a member of the Independence Party of Minnesota. The founder and chair of the ...

for US Senate. Penny is president of the Southern Minnesota Initiative Foundation. He is also a senior fellow at the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota, formally the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, (UMN Twin Cities, the U of M, or Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Tw ...

Humphrey Institute The Hubert H. Humphrey School of Public Affairs is a public policy and planning school at the University of Minnesota, a public land-grant research university in the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint Paul, Minnesota. It is named after Hubert ...

. He served for a time as the institute's co-director alongside one of his former congressional colleagues, Republican

Vin Weber John Vincent Weber (born July 24, 1952) is an American politician, lobbyist and former Republican Congressman from Minnesota. Early life and education Weber was born in Slayton, Minnesota. He attended the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities f ...

. He serves on the advisory board of the

Institute for Law and Politics The Institute for Law and Politics is an interdisciplinary research institute based at the University of Minnesota Law School. The Institute for Law and Politics brings together faculty from the Law School and the University of Minnesota Political ...

at the

University of Minnesota Law School The University of Minnesota Law School is the law school of the University of Minnesota, located in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The school confers four law degrees: a Juris Doctor (J.D.), a Master of Laws (LL.M.), a Master of Science in Patent L ...

and is on the board of directors for the Energy Literacy Advocates. Penny also serves as vice chairman of the board of directors of ACDI/VOCA, a nonprofit U.S. international development organization. In addition, he is a co-chair of the

Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget (CRFB) is a non-profit public policy organization based in Washington, D.C. that addresses federal budget and fiscal issues. It was founded in 1981 by former United States Representatives Robert Gia ...

Personal life

Penny lives in

Owatonna, Minnesota Owatonna () is a city in Steele County, Minnesota, Steele County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 25,599 at the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census. It is the county seat of Steele County. Owatonna is home to the Steele County Fair ...

and has four children. He is the lead singer and guitarist in a band called Led Penny.

Writings

Penny is the co-author of three books, ''Payment Due'' (1996), ''Common Cents: A Retiring Six-Term Congressman Reveals How Congress Really Works — And What We Must Do to Fix It'' (1995), and ''The 15 Biggest Lies in Politics'' (1998). He is the lead author of "The Road to Generational Equity", a manifesto that political analyst

John Avlon John Phillips Avlon (born January 19, 1973) is an American journalist and political commentator. He is a Senior Political Analyst and anchor at CNN and was the editor-in-chief and managing director of ''The Daily Beast'' from 2013 to 2018. Avlon ...

characterizes as radical centrist.Avlon, John (2004). ''Independent Nation: How the Vital Center Is Changing American Politics''. Harmony Books / Random House, p. 282. .

Notes

External links

* * * * * *
''Booknotes'' interview with Penny and co-author Major Garrett on ''Common Cents'', May 14, 1995

C-SPAN Cable-Satellite Public Affairs Network (C-SPAN ) is an American cable and satellite television network that was created in 1979 by the cable television industry as a nonprofit public service. It televises many proceedings of the United States ...

, - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Penny, Tim 1951 births American Lutherans American male non-fiction writers American political writers Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Minnesota Independence Party of Minnesota politicians Living people Democratic Party Minnesota state senators People from Albert Lea, Minnesota Military personnel from Minnesota Radical centrist writers Winona State University alumni People from Owatonna, Minnesota Singers from Minnesota Writers from Minnesota