John Marty
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John Marty (born 1956-11-01) is a State Senator from Minnesota and former candidate for Governor. He is a member of the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party.
A freelance writer and charity worker, Marty was first elected to the Minnesota State Senate from Minnesota's 54th district in 1986, serving the communities of Roseville, St. Anthony, Little Canada, Vadnais Heights, Lauderdale, Gem Lake, and Shoreview. Since then, he has been regularly re-elected by steadily growing majorities.
[edit] Political persuasion
Marty, who identifies himself as a progressive, is best known to the residents of his state as an advocate of environmentalism (he is chairman of the Senate Committee on the Environment and Natural Resources) and campaign finance reform. He does not accept soft money contributions or contributions from lobbyists and he limits the amount of contributions he will accept from any one person. Marty is also a well-known opponent of public funding for stadiums for professional sports teams and was outspoken in his criticism of the recent proposals for new stadiums for the Minnesota Twins and Minnesota Vikings.[1]
Although this limitation has apparently been of no detriment to him in his campaigns for re-election, it was a severe handicap in his 1994 race to unseat Independent-Republican Governor Arne Carlson. Having won a hard-fought primary for the DFL nomination that depleted his funds, Marty lost the general election to Carlson by a record-setting two-to-one margin.
Four years later, Marty once again sought the DFL's gubernatorial nomination, but lost the DFL endorsement (which he had won four years previously) to Hennepin County District Attorney Mike Freeman, and withdrew from the race. The party eventually nominated state Attorney General Hubert H. "Skip" Humphrey III, who lost the election to Jesse Ventura, the candidate of the Minnesota Reform Party. During the race for the Democratic Party's 2004 presidential nomination, Marty joined with State Senate Majority Leader John Hottinger in endorsing Congressman Dennis Kucinich of Ohio. On Super Tuesday, Kucinich received 17% of the vote in Minnesota's presidential caucus, one of his best showings that year.
On November 7, 2006, Marty was re-elected for a sixth term, winning 62.05% of the vote and carrying each of the seven counties in his district. He is married to Connie Marty and has two children, Elsa and Micah. They live in Roseville, Minnesota.
Marty is an alumnus of St. Olaf College. He is the son of religious scholar Martin E. Marty.
[edit] Electoral history
- 2006 Race for Minnesota Senate - District 54[2]
- John Marty (Democratic-Farmer-Labor) 21,847 (62.05%)
- Dan Williams (Republican) 13,328 votes (37.86%)
- 2002 Race for Minnesota Senate - District 54[3]
- John Marty (Democratic-Farmer-Labor) 21,609 (56.86%)
- Mark Zasadny (Republican) 16,359 votes (43.04%)
- 2000 Race for Minnesota Senate - District 54[4]
- John Marty (Democratic-Farmer-Labor) 23,614 (65.50%)
- Mark Zasadny (Republican) 12,440 votes (34.50%)
- 1994 Race for Minnesota Governor
- Arne Carlson (R) (inc.), 63%
- John Marty (D), 34%
- 1994 Race for Minnesota Governor - DFL Primary
- John Marty, 38%
- Mike Hatch, 36%
- Tony Bouza, 25%
- Richard T. Van Bergen, 1%
- 1992 Race for Minnesota Senate - District 54
- John Marty (DFL), 56%
- Pat Igo (R), 44%
- 1990 Race for Minnesota Senate - District 63
- John Marty (DFL), 64%
- Merlyn Scroggins (R), 36%
