Collin Peterson

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Collin Peterson

Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Minnesota's 7th district
Incumbent
Assumed office January 3, 1991–
Preceded by	Arlan Stangeland
Succeeded by	Incumbent

Born	June 29, 1944 (age 62) Fargo, North Dakota
Political party	Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party
Spouse	Divorced
Religion	Lutheran

Collin Clark Peterson (born June 29, 1944), is an American politician. Peterson has been a Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives since 1991, representing Minnesota's 7th congressional district, one of eight congressional districts in Minnesota. The district, Minnesota's largest and most rural district, includes the entire northwestern area of the state. It includes Moorhead, Fergus Falls, Bemidji, Willmar, Alexandria and part of St. Cloud.

Since 2007, Peterson has been chairman of the House Agriculture Committee.

1 Background and education
2 Campaigns
3 Issues and positions
4 Other activities
5 Electoral history
6 References
7 External links

[edit] Background and education

Collin Peterson was born in Fargo, North Dakota, grew up on a farm in Baker, Minnesota, and received his B.A. at Moorhead State University in Moorhead. His current home is Detroit Lakes, just west of Moorhead.

[edit] Campaigns

Peterson was a member of the Minnesota State Senate for the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party (the Minnesota branch of the Democratic Party) from 1977-1986, representing a district in northwestern Minnesota.

He was elected to Congress in 1990, defeating seven-term Republican Arlan Stangeland in 1990 on his third try after unsuccessful attempts in 1986 and 1988. However, the 7th has always been a somewhat conservative district, and Peterson struggled to hold on to his seat in close elections. In 1992 he narrowly won re-election by a 50-49% margin against former state representative Bernie Omann. In a 1994 re-match against Omann, Peterson won by a 51-49% margin. From 1996 on, he has been re-elected by a wide margin, with voters giving him between 65 and 72 percent of the vote.

[edit] Issues and positions

Peterson was a co-sponsor of the Agricultural Job Opportunities, Benefits, and Security Act of 2005, which would provide amnesty and job protection for three million illegal immigrant agricultural workers and their families, and extend the visas of legal immigrant agricultural workers.

In 1998, Peterson gained attention by proposing a constitutional amendment which would allow the residents of Minnesota's Northwest Angle to vote on whether they wanted to secede from the United States and join the Canadian province of Manitoba.

Peterson was one of the seven original founders of the Blue Dog Coalition of conservative Democrats in the House.

An avid hunter, Peterson is known for his interest in conservation and sportsmen's issues. In 2000, he introduced H.R. 1275 to stop the interstate shipping of birds for cockfighting, a bill with 206 co-sponsors which did not make it out of committee. He is a strong supporter of preserving wildlife and gaming refuges.

Representing a mostly rural district, Peterson takes a strong interest in corporate agriculture issues, and support for increasing agricultural investment programs, farm support programs, and promoting the use of ethanol and biodiesel fuels.

In January 2005, he was selected by the House Democratic Caucus to succeed former Texas Congressman Charlie Stenholm as the Ranking Member on the U.S. House Committee on Agriculture. He became the committee's chairman after the Democrats won control of the House two years later.

Peterson is considered to be the most conservative Democrat in the Minnesota delegation in the 109^th Congress, scoring 50% conservative by a conservative group^[1] and 57% progressive by a liberal group.^[2] (Minnesota Congressional Districts shows the scores for the entire delegation.) He is somewhat conservative on social issues; he opposes abortion and gun control. The latter stance is not surprising given the makeup of his district; indeed, many DFLers outside the Twin Cities are hunters and trappers who oppose gun control. On economic issues, however, he is closer to the liberal wing of his party: he has voted against most free trade agreements, the Freedom to Farm act, the Telecom Act of 1996, both versions of the Patriot Act, and he has been sharply critical of the No Child Left Behind Act, which he contends is unfair to rural students. Since becoming ranking Democrat on the Agriculture Committee, Peterson has voted more often with liberal Democrats.

Peterson was one of the few Democrats to vote in favor of the Military Commissions Act of 2006 [1].

Along with John Conyers, in April 2006 Peterson brought an action against George W. Bush and others alleging violations of the Constitution in the passing of the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005^[3]. The case (Conyers v. Bush) was ultimately dismissed^[4].

[edit] Other activities

In December 2005, Peterson joined with several other Congressmen to form the Second Amendments, a bipartisan rock and country band set to play for United States troops stationed overseas over the Holiday season. 1

[edit] Electoral history

2006 Race for U.S. House of Representatives - 7th District
- Collin Peterson (DFL) (inc.), 70%
- Mike Barrett (R), 29%

[edit] References

^ Congressional Voting Scorecard 2005 (pdf). SBE Council’s Congressional Voting Scorecard 2005. Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council (June, 2006). Retrieved on 2006-11-02.
^ Leading with the Left. Progressive Punch. Retrieved on 2006-11-02.
^ Associated Press. "11 House Members to Sue Over Budget Bill", ABC News, 2006-04-27. Retrieved on 2007-02-20.
^ Associated Press. "Judge Dismisses Budget Bill Lawsuit", ABC News, 2006-11-06. Retrieved on 2006-11-28.

[edit] External links

U.S. Congressman Collin Peterson official House site
Biography at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
Federal Election Commission - Collin C Peterson campaign finance reports and data
MPR - Campaign 2006: Collin Peterson profile from Minnesota Public Radio
On the Issues - Collin Peterson issue positions and quotes
OpenSecrets.org - Collin C. Peterson campaign contributions
Project Vote Smart - Representative Collin C. Peterson (MN) profile
SourceWatch Congresspedia - Collin Peterson profile
Washington Post - Congress Votes Database: Collin Peterson voting record
Peterson for Congress official campaign site
Agricultural Job Opportunities, Benefits, and Security Act of 2005

Preceded by Arlan Stangeland	Member of the U.S. House of Representatives for Minnesota's 7th District 1991–present	Succeeded by Incumbent
Preceded by Bob Goodlatte	Chairman of the House Agriculture Committee 2007–present	Succeeded by Incumbent