Kurt Zellers

Kurt Zellers
57th Speaker of the Minnesota House of Representatives
Incumbent
Assumed office
January 4, 2011
Preceded by Margaret Anderson Kelliher
Minnesota House Minority Leader
In office
June 23, 2009 – January 4, 2011
Preceded by Marty Seifert
Succeeded by Paul Thissen
Member of the Minnesota House of Representatives
from the 32B district
Incumbent
Assumed office
March 3, 2003
Preceded by Rich Stanek
Personal details
Born October 16, 1969 (1969-10-16) (age 42)
Grand Forks, North Dakota
Political party Republican
Spouse(s) Kimberly
Children Reagan and William
Residence Maple Grove, Minnesota
Alma mater University of North Dakota
Occupation public relations, legislator
Religion Lutheran
Minnesota

This article is part of the series:
Politics and government of
Minnesota



Other countries · Atlas
Politics portal

Kurt Zellers (born October 16, 1969 in Grand Forks, North Dakota) is the current Speaker of the Minnesota House of Representatives. A Republican, he served as Minority Leader of the House from June 23, 2009, until becoming Speaker on January 4, 2011. He represents District 32B, which includes portions of Hennepin County in the northwestern Twin Cities metropolitan area. He was first elected in a special election held on February 25, 2003. The seat became vacant when Rep. Rich Stanek resigned after being appointed Minnesota's Commissioner of Public Safety by Governor Tim Pawlenty. He was re-elected in 2004, 2006, 2008 and 2010.[1]

Zellers was born and raised on a farm in Grand Forks, North Dakota. He received his B.S. degree in political science from the University of North Dakota, where he had also been a member of the football team. He worked as communications director for U.S. Senator Rod Grams from 1994-2000, and as Communications Director for the Minnesota House Republican Caucus from 2000-2003 prior to being elected to the House himself. After his election, he took a position as a senior account executive with a Minneapolis public relations firm.[2][3]

Zellers became an assistant majority leader in 2003 and, after House control was won by the Democrats in the 2006 elections, continued as an assistant minority leader.[4] During the 2009-2010 biennium, he was a member of the House Commerce and Labor Committee and the Taxes Committee. He also served on the Commerce and Labor Subcommittee for the Labor and Consumer Protection Division, and on the Finance Subcommittee for the Transportation and Transit Policy and Oversight Division.[5]

On June 23, 2009, Zellers was elected by the House Republican Caucus to succeed Rep. Marty Seifert as minority leader. Seifert had stepped down to focus on a potential race for governor.[6] On November 6, 2010, Zellers was selected by his caucus to serve as Speaker of the Minnesota House of Representatives for the 2011-2012 session.[7]

References

External links

Minnesota House of Representatives
Preceded by
Margaret Anderson Kelliher
Speaker of the Minnesota House of Representatives
2011 –
Succeeded by
Incumbent
Preceded by
Marty Seifert
Minnesota House Minority Leader
2009 – 2011
Succeeded by
Paul Thissen
Preceded by
Rich Stanek
State Representative from Minnesota District 32B
2003 – Present
Succeeded by
Incumbent