| Collin Peterson | |
|---|---|
| Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Minnesota's 7th district |
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| Incumbent | |
| Assumed office January 3, 1991 |
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| Preceded by | Arlan Stangeland |
| Chairman of the House Agriculture Committee | |
| In office January 4, 2007 – January 3, 2011 |
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| Preceded by | Bob Goodlatte |
| Succeeded by | Frank Lucas |
| Member of the Minnesota Senate from the 10th district |
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| In office January 4, 1977 – January 5, 1987 |
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| Preceded by | John Moonan |
| Succeeded by | Cal Larson |
| Personal details | |
| Born | June 29, 1944 Fargo, North Dakota |
| Political party | Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party |
| Spouse(s) | Divorced |
| Residence | Detroit Lakes, Minnesota |
| Alma mater | Moorhead State University |
| Occupation | accountant |
| Religion | Lutheran |
| Military service | |
| Service/branch | United States Army National Guard |
| Years of service | 1963–1969 |
Collin Clark Peterson (born June 29, 1944), is the U.S. Representative for Minnesota's 7th congressional district, serving since 1991, and the ranking member of the House Agriculture Committee. He is a member of the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party and is the dean of the Minnesota congressional delegation. The district, Minnesota's largest and most rural district, includes the entire northwestern area of the state. It includes Moorhead, Fergus Falls, Bemidji, Detroit Lakes, Thief River Falls, Willmar, Marshall, and Alexandria.
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Collin Peterson was born in Fargo, North Dakota, grew up on a farm in Baker, Minnesota, and received his B.A. at Minnesota State University Moorhead.
Peterson was a member of the Minnesota Senate for the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party (the Minnesota branch of the Democratic Party) from 1977 to 1986, representing a district in northwestern Minnesota. In 1976, he defeated Republican nominee Frank DeGroat 55%-45%.[1] In 1982, he won re-election against State Representative Cal Larson by just 200 votes, or 0.8% difference.[2]
In 1984, he ran for Minnesota's 7th congressional district in Northwestern Minnesota, held by Republican Arlan Stangeland. Peterson lost 57%-43%.[3] In 1986, he ran in a rematch and narrowly lost by just 121 votes.[4] In 1988, he ran again but lost in the DFL primary to State Senator Marv Hanson 55%-45%.[5]
In 1990, he ran for a fourth time and won the primary. In the general election, he finally defeated seven-term Stangeland 54%-46%.[6] In 1992, he narrowly won re-election by a 50–49% margin against former State Representative Bernie Omann.[7] In a 1994 rematch, Peterson won again by a 51–49% margin, despite the Republican Revolution.[8] In 1996, he won re-election with 68% of the vote, and won every county in the CD.[9] In 1998, he won re-election with 72% of the vote.[10]
During this decade, he never won re-election with less than 65% of the vote.
In 2010, Peterson survived another Republican wave election. This time, he defeated Lee Byberg 55%-38%, his worst election performance since 1994.[11]
Peterson was one of the seven original founders of the Blue Dog Coalition of moderate Democrats in the House.
Peterson is considered to be the most moderate Democrat in the Minnesota delegation in the 109th Congress, scoring 50% conservative by a conservative group[12] and 57% progressive by a liberal group.[13] He is somewhat conservative on social issues; he strongly opposes abortion and has been one of the few Democrats to vote against even stem cell research and the vast majority of gun control measures. He has voted to ban physician assisted suicide and also to approve the flag desecration amendment. Peterson also supports the federal marriage amendment and the death penalty. His socially conservative views are not surprising given the makeup of his district. The 7th contains some of the most conservative counties in the state. As previously mentioned, it is also the state's most rural district; many DFLers outside the Twin Cities are hunters and trappers who oppose gun control.
On economic issues, however, he is somewhat closer to the liberal wing of his party: he has voted against most free trade agreements, the Freedom to Farm Act, and the Telecom Act of 1996. He also voted against 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. However, political commentators often note that Peterson once dated former Congresswoman Katherine Harris, who, as the Republican Secretary of State of Florida during the 2000 presidential election, infuriated Democrats by certifying George W. Bush as the election winner.[14]
Peterson was one of the few Democrats to vote in favor of the Military Commissions Act of 2006.[15]
Peterson was a cosponsor of the Agricultural Job Opportunities, Benefits, and Security Act of 2005<refr>H.R. 884: Agricultural Job Opportunities, Benefits, and Security Act of 2005, GovTrack.us</ref>[16] which would provide 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 that 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.
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.
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.[17] The case (Conyers v. Bush) was ultimately dismissed.[18]
In May 2007, Peterson was the lone Democrat to vote against the Federal Price Gouging Prevention Act.[19]
On January 28, 2009, Peterson was amongst the seven Democrats who voted in the House together with the unanimous Republican opposition against President Obama's stimulus package (American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009).[20][21]
On May 6, 2009, Peterson voiced his opposition to climate change legislation proposed by the Obama Administration saying, "I will not support any kind of climate change bill – even if you fix this – because I don't trust anybody anymore. I've had it." Peterson predicted that an Environmental Protection Agency proposal to assess indirect effects of ethanol production on greenhouse gas emissions, combined with the climate change legislation, could "kill off corn ethanol."[22]
On March 21, 2010, Peterson voted against the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.[23]
From 2003 through 2005, $14.7 billion in crop subsidies went to the congressional districts of members on the House Committee on Agriculture, an analysis by the non-partisan Environmental Working Group found. That was 42.4% of the total subsidies. Peterson is reported to have brought $874 million to his District.[24] In Peterson's district, which includes sugar beets, wheat and poultry, 58% of the $2.8 billion paid out in crop subsidies from 1995 to 2005 went to 10% of recipients, according to the Environmental Working Group, which tracks farm spending. The chairman says he has no problem with that. "Ten percent of the farmers produce 90% of the food," he says.
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.[25]
On July 27, 2009, a controversy erupted after Peterson was quoted in a Politico.com article saying, "25 percent of my people believe the Pentagon and Rumsfeld were responsible for taking the twin towers down. That's why I don't do town meetings." The state Republican Party denounced the remark as "outrageous and offensive". Peterson apologized for the comment, which he described as "off-hand".[26]
In 2010, he was endorsed by the National Right to Life Committee[27] and the National Rifle Association.[28]
In 2011, he co-sponsored HR 3, the No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act.[29] The bill contained an exception for "forcible rape," which opponents criticized as potentially excluding drug-facilitated rape, date rape, and other forms of rape.[30] The bill also allowed an exception for minors who are victims of incest.[29]
| 2010 Seventh Congressional District of Minnesota Elections | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
| Democratic | Collin Peterson | 133,086 | 55.2 | -17 | |
| Republican | Lee Byberg | 90,682 | 37.6 | - | |
| Independent | Gene Waldorf | 9,310 | 3.9 | - | |
| Independence | Glen Menze | 7,904 | 3.3 | -24.4 | |
| 2008 Seventh Congressional District of Minnesota Elections | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
| Democratic | Collin Peterson | 227,180 | 72.2 | +2.2 | |
| Republican | Glen Menze | 87,057 | 27.7 | - | |
| republican | others | 428 | 0.1 | - | |
| 2006 Seventh Congressional District of Minnesota Elections | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
| Democratic | Collin Peterson | 179,163 | 70 | +4 | |
| Republican | Michael Barrett | 74,680 | 29 | - | |
| Constitution | Ken Lucier | 3,303 | 1 | - | |
| 2004 Seventh Congressional District of Minnesota Elections | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
| Democratic | Collin Peterson | 207,254 | 66 | +1 | |
| Republican | David Sturrock | 106,235 | 34 | - | |
| 2002 Seventh Congressional District of Minnesota Elections | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
| Democratic | Collin Peterson | 170,191 | 65 | - | |
| Republican | Dan Stevens | 90,320 | 35 | - | |
| 1990 Seventh Congressional District of Minnesota Elections | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
| Democratic | Collin Peterson | 53 | - | ||
| Republican | Arlan Stangeland | 46 | - | ||
Peterson lives in Detroit Lakes, just east of Moorhead.
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Roger L. Hanson Vergas |
Minnesota Senate District 10 1977–1986 |
Succeeded by Cal Larson Fergus Falls |
| Preceded by Bob Goodlatte Virginia |
Chairman of House Agriculture Committee 2007–2011 |
Succeeded by Frank Lucas Oklahoma |
| United States House of Representatives | ||
| Preceded by Arlan Stangeland |
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Minnesota's 7th congressional district 1991 – present |
Succeeded by Incumbent |
| United States order of precedence | ||
| Preceded by Jim Moran D-Virginia |
United States Representatives by seniority 59th |
Succeeded by Maxine Waters D-California |
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