Duane Robert Quam II (born July 2, 1960) is an American politician serving in the

Minnesota House of Representatives The Minnesota House of Representatives is the lower chamber of the U.S. state of Minnesota's Minnesota Legislature, legislature. It operates in conjunction with the Minnesota Senate, the state's upper chamber, to write and pass legislation, whic ...

since 2011. A member of the

Republican Party of Minnesota The Republican Party of Minnesota is the state affiliate of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party in Minnesota and the oldest active political party in the state. Founded in 1855, the party is headquartered in Edina, Minnesota, E ...

, Quam represents District 24A in southeast

Minnesota Minnesota ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario to the north and east and by the U.S. states of Wisconsin to the east, Iowa to the so ...

, including the cities of Kasson and

Byron George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron (22 January 1788 – 19 April 1824) was an English poet. He is one of the major figures of the Romantic movement, and is regarded as being among the greatest poets of the United Kingdom. Among his best-kno ...

, parts of Rochester, and parts of

Dodge Dodge is an American brand of automobiles and a division of Stellantis, based in Auburn Hills, Michigan. Dodge vehicles have historically included performance cars, and for much of its existence, Dodge was Chrysler's mid-priced brand above P ...

and Olmsted Counties. He is an engineer.

Early life, education, and career

Quam was raised on a farm and graduated from Byron High School in

, and from the

University of Texas at Dallas The University of Texas at Dallas (UTD or UT Dallas) is a public research university in Richardson, Texas, United States. It is the northernmost institution of the University of Texas System. It was initially founded in 1961 as a private res ...

, earning his B.S. in engineering and his

M.S. A Master of Science (; abbreviated MS, M.S., MSc, M.Sc., SM, S.M., ScM or Sc.M.) is a master's degree. In contrast to the Master of Arts degree, the Master of Science degree is typically granted for studies in sciences, engineering and medicine ...

in physics. He is a former member of the Byron School Board, a past chair of the Zumbro Education District governing board, a past chair of the Minnesota State Academic Science Standards writing committee, and a past

United Way United Way is an international network of over 1,800 local nonprofit organization, nonprofit fundraising affiliates. Prior to 2015, United Way was the largest nonprofit organization in the United States by donations from the public. Individual Un ...

Community Resource Allocation Committee member, and serves as a consultant on educational texts and a participant on several MCA committees.

Minnesota House of Representatives

Quam was elected to the

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

, running after incumbent Randy Demmer resigned to run for Minnesota's 1st congressional district, and has been reelected every two years since. Quam serves as the minority lead for the Property Tax Division of the Taxes Committee and also serves on the Elections Finance and Policy, Health Finance and Policy and Human Services Finance Committees.

2018 debate incident

In October 2018, Quam made headlines when he snatched a microphone from the hand of his opponent, Jamie Mahlberg, during a debate. Quam later tried to hand the mic back to Mahlberg. When she did not take it, he dropped it back in front of her. Quam later apologized. Quam was reelected with 53.6% of the vote.

Electoral history

References

External links

Rep. Quam Web Page

Project Votesmart – Rep. Duane Quam Profile

Duane Quam Campaign Web Site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Quam, Duane 1960 births Living people Politicians from Rochester, Minnesota Republican Party members of the Minnesota House of Representatives University of Texas at Dallas alumni People from Olmsted County, Minnesota 21st-century members of the Minnesota Legislature