Daniel Kirk Wolgamott (born October 24, 1990) 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 2019. A member of the

Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party The Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party (DFL) is a political party in the U.S. state of Minnesota affiliated with the national Democratic Party. The party was formed by a merger between the Minnesota Democratic Party and the Minneso ...

(DFL), Wolgamott represents District 14B in central

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 ...

, which includes the city of St. Cloud and parts of Benton, Sherburne, and Stearns Counties.

Early life, education, and career

Wolgamott was raised in the Elkhorn neighborhood of

Omaha, Nebraska Omaha ( ) is the List of cities in Nebraska, most populous city in the U.S. state of Nebraska. It is located in the Midwestern United States along the Missouri River, about north of the mouth of the Platte River. The nation's List of United S ...

, and graduated from Elkhorn High School. He attended Saint John's University, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts in political science. In 2011, he was an intern in U.S. Representative

Tim Walz Timothy James Walz (; born April 6, 1964) is an American politician who has served since 2019 as the 41st governor of Minnesota. He was the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic nominee for Vice President of the United States, vice pre ...

's office.

Minnesota House of Representatives

Wolgamott ran for Minnesota House in District 14A in 2014, losing to Republican Tama Theis. He then ran for the

Minnesota Senate The Minnesota Senate is the upper house of the Minnesota Legislature, Legislature of the U.S. state of Minnesota. At 67 members, half as many as the Minnesota House of Representatives, it is the largest upper house of any State legislature (Unite ...

in District 14 in

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

, losing to Republican

Jerry Relph Jerry O. Relph (September 4, 1944December 18, 2020) was an American politician and member of the Minnesota Senate. A Republican, he represented District 14 in central Minnesota from 2017 until his death from COVID-19 complications in 2020. Six w ...

by 141 votes. He was elected to the

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

and has been reelected every two years since. In the 2021–22 legislative session, Wolgamott was an assistant majority leader for the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party House Caucus. He was sworn in as speaker pro tempore of the House on January 3, 2023. Wolgamott is the vice chair of the Higher Education Finance and Policy Committee and sits on the Capital Investment, Labor and Industry Finance and Policy, and Rules and Legislative Administration Committees.

Electoral history

Personal life

Wolgamott has two children. He resides in

St. Cloud, Minnesota St. Cloud or Saint Cloud (; ) is a city in the U.S. state of Minnesota and the largest population center in the state's central region. The population was 68,881 at the 2020 census, making it Minnesota's 12th-largest city. St. Cloud is the c ...

. In 2014, he married Nicole Wolgamott (née Swanson); the couple divorced in 2021. In June 2024, Wolgamott announced his engagement to Erika Mejía.

Legal issues

On January 9, 2021, Wolgamott's vehicle was found abandoned in a yard in

Golden Valley, Minnesota Golden Valley is a western and first-ring suburb of Minneapolis in Hennepin County, Minnesota, Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 22,552 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The city is mostly residential an ...

. Police investigated, noted the roads were icy at the time, and cited Wolgamott with a misdemeanor for abandoning his vehicle on private property without the property owner's consent. On July 7, 2023, Wolgamott was arrested in

Kanabec County, Minnesota Kanabec County ( ) is a County (United States), county in the East Central part of U.S. state of Minnesota. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 16,032. Its county seat is Mora, Minnesota, Mora. History The Minn ...

, for driving while intoxicated. Two weeks later, surveillance video from a liquor store showed him drinking from a bottle of alcohol in the parking lot before getting in his car and driving away. On August 7, after blood test results showed a

blood alcohol content Blood alcohol content (BAC), also called blood alcohol concentration or blood alcohol level, is a measurement of alcohol intoxication used for legal or medical purposes. BAC is expressed as mass of alcohol per volume of blood. In US and many i ...

of 0.09, above Minnesota's legal limit of 0.08, Wolgamott was charged with two counts of

driving while intoxicated Driving under the influence (DUI) is the crime of driving, operating, or being in control of a vehicle while one is impaired from doing so safely by the effect of either alcohol (see drunk driving) or some other drug, whether recreational or ...

. He pleaded guilty in September and was sentenced to two years of supervised probation.

References

External links

Official House of Representatives website

Official campaign website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wolgamott, Dan 1990 births 21st-century members of the Minnesota Legislature Businesspeople from Minnesota College of Saint Benedict and Saint John's University alumni Democratic Party members of the Minnesota House of Representatives Living people Politicians from St. Cloud, Minnesota