House 2015-2018 (District 46A)
Party when first elected: Democratic-Farmer-Labor
Counties Served:
Hennepin
BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION
Date of Birth:
9/22/1979
Birth Place:
,
Birth County:
Birth Country:
Date of Death:
Gender:
Female
Religion:
Reported Minority: American Indian
Other Names:
City of Residence (when first elected):
Saint Louis Park
Occupation (when first elected):
Executive director, Children's Defense Fund--Minnesota
EDUCATION
St. Louis Park Public Schools; Secondary;
University of Minnesota; B.A.; 2002, American Indian Studies, Child Psychology
OTHER GOVERNMENT SERVICE
Municipal Board/Commission:
Minneapolis, Minnesota (School Board);
2005 to 2009
[Elected]
State Lieutenant Governor:
Minnesota;
01/07/2019 to ?
[Elected]
FAMILY RELATIONSHIPS
Spouse:
Tim Hellendrung (when first elected, divorced around 2017)
Children:
One child: Siobhan (daughter)
Family Members Who Have Served in the Minnesota Legislature:
GENERAL NOTES
She was the first Native American woman Lieutenant Governor in the United States. (MPR, November 7, 2018)
She is the first Native woman elected to state-wide, executive office in the United States (Teen Vogue, December 3, 2018)
She ran unsuccessfully for the Minnesota House of Representatives in the 2008 election.
She is a citizen of the White Earth Nation of Ojibwe. (MinnPost, March 23, 2017)
She was sworn in on November 9, 2015.