Martin Olav Sabo

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Martin Sabo
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Minnesota's 5th district
In office 1979 – 2007
Preceded by	Donald M. Fraser
Succeeded by	Keith Ellison
Born	February 28, 1938 Crosby, North Dakota
Political party	Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party
Spouse	Sylvia Ann Lee
Religion	Lutheran

Martin Olav Sabo (born February 28, 1938) is an American politician and member of the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party (DFL) and a former United States Representative for Minnesota's fifth district, which includes Minneapolis; the district is one of eight congressional districts in Minnesota.

Sabo was born of Norwegian immigrant parents in Crosby, North Dakota and in 1959 received a B.A. from Augsburg College in Minneapolis, later pursuing graduate studies at the University of Minnesota. He was elected to the Minnesota House of Representatives in 1960 at the age of 22, later serving as minority leader (1969–72) and as house speaker (1973–78). During his tenure in the state house he served terms as president of the National Conference of State Legislatures and of the National Legislative Conference, and was a presidential appointee to the National Advisory Commission on Intergovernmental Relations.

When Congressman Don Fraser stepped down to run for the US Senate, Sabo became the Democratic candidate to succeed him. He won easily in November 1978 and was reelected thirteen times without serious opposition. The Minnesota DFL, in the persons of Fraser, Sabo and his successor in the seat, Keith Ellison, have held the seat since 1963.

During the 103rd Congress (1993–94) he chaired the House Budget Committee. In the 109th United States Congress he sat on the House Appropriations Committee, and was the ranking member of that committee's Homeland Security subcommittee.

A Lutheran, Sabo is married and has two children and six grandchildren. His daughter, Julie Sabo, is a former member of the Minnesota Senate and was the 2002 Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party nominee for Lieutenant Governor. During the course of his career Sabo referred to himself as a "liberal decentrist", preferring progressive politics, but local control instead of federal control.[1]

Sabo was considered to be the most liberal member of the Minnesota delegation in the 109^th Congress, scoring 4% conservative by a conservative group^[1] and 90% progressive by a liberal group.^[2] Minnesota Congressional Districts shows the scores for the entire delegation.

On March 18, 2006 he announced that he would not run for reelection for the 110th congress, ending 46 years as an elected official, including 28 years in Congress—the second-longest tenure in either house of Congress in the state's history, behind only fellow Democrat Jim Oberstar. [2][3] His seat was then won by Keith Ellison, also a progressive DFLer, who replaced Sabo as the Fifth District representative on January 4, 2007.

[edit] Electoral History

• 2004 Race for U.S. House of Representatives - 5th District
  • Martin Olav Sabo (DFL) (inc.), 70%
  • Daniel Mathias (R), 24%
  • Jay Pond (G), 6%

[edit] References

1. ^ Congressional Voting Scorecard 2005 (pdf). SBE Council’s Congressional Voting Scorecard 2005. Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council (June, 2006). Retrieved on 2006-11-02.
2. ^ Leading with the Left. Progressive Punch. Retrieved on 2006-11-02.

[edit] External links

• Official campaign website
• Biography at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
• Voting record maintained by The Washington Post

Preceded by Donald M. Fraser

Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Minnesota's 5th congressional district 1979 - 2007

Succeeded by Keith Ellison

Speakers of the Minnesota House of Representatives

Furber • Ames • Ludden • Day • Taylor • Norris • Gardner • Watrous • Bradley • Coggswell • Benson • Sherwood • Armstrong • Wakefield • Farmer • Davidson • J. Merriam • Hall • Kinyon • Gibbs • Gilman • Fletcher • W. Merriam • Graves • Champlin • Lee • Van Sant • Jones • Dare • Dowling • Babcock • Clague • L. Johnson • Rockne • Dunn • Rines • Flowers • Parker • Nolan • J. Johnson • Swenson • Munn • G. Johnson • Barker • Hall • Hartle • A. Johnson • Chilgren • Duxbury • Dirlam • Sabo • Searle • Norton • Sieben • Jennings • Vanasek • Long • Anderson • Carruthers • Sviggum • Kelliher