Al Juhnke (born November 1958) is a

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 ...

politician and a former member of 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 ...

who represented District 13B, based around Willmar in Kandiyohi County in the west central part of the state. A

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (Cyprus) (DCY) **Democratic Part ...

, he was first elected in 1996, and was re-elected to six consecutive terms. He was unseated by Republican

Bruce Vogel Bruce Vogel (born December 24, 1958) is a Minnesota politician and former member of the Minnesota House of Representatives representing District 13B, which included portions of Kandiyohi County in the west central part of the state, including t ...

in the 2010 general election. Prior to the 2002 legislative

redistricting Redistricting in the United States is the process of drawing electoral district boundaries. For the United States House of Representatives, and state legislatures, redistricting occurs after each ten-year census. The U.S. Constitution in Art ...

, the area was known as District 15A. Juhnke currently lives in

Lincoln, Nebraska Lincoln is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Nebraska. The city covers and had a population of 291,082 as of the 2020 census. It is the state's List of cities in Nebraska, second-most populous city a ...

and serves as the Executive Director of the Nebraska Pork Producers Association (January 2016 – present). Prior to this, he worked for five years in the office of Senator

Al Franken Alan Stuart Franken (born May 21, 1951) is an American politician, comedian, and actor who served from 2009 to 2018 as a United States senator from Minnesota. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he worked as an ...

as state advisor for Agriculture, Energy and Environment (March 2011 - January 2016). Juhnke most served on the House Bonding, Environment Policy, Finance, and Rules committees, on the Commerce and Labor Subcommittee for the Telecommunications Regulation and Infrastructure Division, and was Chair of the Agriculture, Rural Economies and Veterans Affairs Finance Committee. He was an assistant minority leader from 2001 to 2004, and also served as speaker pro tempore. Juhnke's legislative accomplishments include being named Politics In Minnesota's “First Termer of the Year in the Minnesota House” in 1997, serving as co-chair of the Council of State Governments-Midwest Legislative Conference (CSG-MLC) Agriculture & Natural Resources Committee, and serving as co-chair of the Minnesota NextGen Energy Board. He also serves on the board of directors of the Minnesota Chicano Latino Affairs Council. Juhnke was recognized for his passion on agricultural and rural issues. He authored major bio-fuel legislation, making Minnesota the first state in the nation to mandate both a 10 and 20 percent bio-diesel content in their fuels. He helped establish the Agriculture Fertilizer Research and Education Council (AFREC), a farmer-led program to advance soil fertility research, technology development, and education. He was proud of his ability to work with legislators from both sides of the aisle, joining together in support of Minnesota agricultural issues. His daughter is Shannon Juhnke, renowned for being captain of the MN state champion dog bowl team 4 years running in her youth.

References

External links

Rep. Juhnke Web Page

Rep. Juhnke Campaign Web Site
Living people 1958 births People from Willmar, Minnesota University of Minnesota alumni Democratic Party members of the Minnesota House of Representatives American Lutherans People from Wells, Minnesota 21st-century members of the Minnesota Legislature {{Minnesota-MNRepresentative-Democratic-stub