House 1981-82 (District 59A); House 1983-92 (District 60A); House 1993-2012 (District 61A); House 2013-2018 (District 62A)
Party when first elected: Democratic-Farmer-Labor
Counties Served:
Hennepin
BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION
Date of Birth:
7/23/1945
Birth Place:
, Oklahoma
Birth County:
Birth Country:
United States
Date of Death:
Gender:
Female
Religion:
Catholic
Reported Minority: None Reported
Other Names:
City of Residence (when first elected):
Minneapolis
Occupation (when first elected):
Nurse-Practitioner, Hennepin County Health Department
EDUCATION
Edgerton Public High School; Secondary; 1963
College of St. Teresa, Winona; B.S.; Nursing, Training as a Nurse Practitioner in OB/GYN
Harvard University, John F. Kennedy School of Government; M.P.A.; Public Administration
OTHER GOVERNMENT SERVICE
State Board/Commission/Council:
Minnesota Council on the Economic Status of Women;
19?? to 19??
State Board/Commission/Council:
Minnesota Council on Asian-Pacific Minnesotans;
19?? to 19??
FAMILY RELATIONSHIPS
Spouse/Partner:
Single (when first elected); Jacquelyn Zita (around 1989)
Children:
Family Members Who Have Served in the Minnesota Legislature:
GENERAL NOTES
She was the first openly gay person to run and be elected to the Minnesota Legislature, without previously having held a seat in it. She was the first openly lesbian member to serve in the Minnesota Legislature. She is also the longest serving openly lesbian member to serve in a state legislature in the United States. Allan Spear was the first openly gay member of the Minnesota Legislature.
She grew up on a sharecropping farm in Rock County, Minnesota.
Her mother was Mayor of a small town.
Religion provided by the Natural Resources Defense Council's State Directories 2005.