List of minority leaders of the Minnesota Senate

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This is a list of minority leaders of the Minnesota Senate

Name Took office Left office Party/Caucus
Bolesaw G. Novak 1951 1955 Liberal
Harold W. Schultz 1955 1963 Liberal
Paul A. Thuet 1963 1967 Liberal
Karl F. Grittner 1967 1971 Liberal
Nick Coleman 1971 1973 Liberal
Harold G. Krieger 1973 1975 Republican
Robert O. Ashbach 1975 1983 Republican/Independent-Republican
James E. Ulland 1983 1985 Independent-Republican
Glen Taylor 1985 1987 Independent-Republican
Duane Benson 1987 1993 Independent-Republican
Dean Johnson 1993 1995 Independent-Republican/Republican
Dick Day 1995 2007 Republican
David Senjem 2007 2011 Republican
Tom Bakk 2011 2013 Democratic-Farmer-Labor
David Hann 2013 2017 Republican
Tom Bakk 2017 2020 Democratic-Farmer-Labor
Susan Kent 2020 2021 Democratic-Farmer-Labor
Melisa Franzen 2021 2023 Democratic-Farmer-Labor
Mark Johnson 2023 Incumbent Republican

Notes on Minnesota political party names

In 1913, Minnesota legislators began to be elected on nonpartisan ballots. Nonpartisanship also was an historical accident that occurred in the 1913 session when a bill to provide for no party elections of judges and city and county officers was amended to include the Legislature in the belief that it would kill the bill. Legislators ran and caucused as "Liberals" or "Conservatives" roughly equivalent in most years to Democratic-Farmer-Labor and Republican, respectively. The law was changed in 1973, in 1976, Senate members again ran with party designation.

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