Steve Sviggum

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Steven A. "Steve" Sviggum is a Minnesota Republican politician, and a former Speaker of the Minnesota House of Representatives. He represented House District 28B in rural southeast Minnesota, including his hometown of Kenyon. He resigned from the Minnesota House of Representatives on July 17, 2007 to take over as Minnesota Commissioner of Labor and Industry.

[edit] Biography

Sviggum was born in September of 1951. He received a B.A. in Mathematics from Saint Olaf College, and later worked as both an educator and a farmer. In 1978, he was elected to the Minnesota House.

Sviggum ascended to the position of Speaker following the 1998 elections, when the Republican party took control of the House from the Democratic-Farmer-Labor party. He began his Speakership in unusual circumstances; 1998 also saw the election of Reform Party candidate Jesse Ventura to the Governor's mansion, while the Minnesota Senate stayed in control of the DFL. Sviggum was the leader of the Republicans in a government divided between three political parties. His job became easier with the election of Republican Gov. Tim Pawlenty in 2002.

In the 2006 elections, Democrats regained control of the Minnesota House, so Sviggum's term as Speaker ended in January 2007. Though he won reelection to his seat, he chose not seek a leadership position in the next session.[1] He was succeeded as Speaker by Rep. Margaret Anderson Kelliher (DFL-Minneapolis).

On June 26, 2007, Governor Tim Pawlenty announced that Sviggum would succeed Scott Brenner as Minnesota Commissioner of Labor and Industry. Sviggum stepped down from his seat in the legislature and took over the position on July 17, 2007. A special election to determine his successor was held August 7, 2007.

Sviggum is Norwegian-American and a Lutheran.

[edit] References

• Minnesota Legislators Past and Present

[edit] External links

• Steve Sviggum at Minnesota Legislators Past & Present
• Minnesota House of Representatives Website for Steve Sviggum

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