Dennis M. "Denny" McNamara (born September 29, 1952) 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 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 ...

. 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 ...

, he represented District 54B, which included portions of

Dakota Dakota may refer to: * Dakota people, a sub-tribe of the Sioux ** Dakota language, their language Dakota may also refer to: Places United States * Dakota, Georgia, an unincorporated community * Dakota, Illinois, a town * Dakota, Minnesota ...

and

Washington Washington most commonly refers to: * George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States * Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A ...

counties in the southeastern part of the

Twin Cities Twin cities are a special case of two neighboring cities or urban centres that grow into a single conurbation – or narrowly separated urban areas – over time. There are no formal criteria, but twin cities are generally comparable in stat ...

metropolitan area.

Early life, education, and career

McNamara attended Archbishop Brady High School in West Saint Paul, then went on to the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota Twin Cities (historically known as University of Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint ...

Duluth Duluth ( ) is a Port, port city in the U.S. state of Minnesota and the county seat of St. Louis County, Minnesota, St. Louis County. Located on Lake Superior in Minnesota's Arrowhead Region, the city is a hub for cargo shipping. The population ...

for two years. He graduated from the Carlson School of Business at the

Minneapolis Minneapolis is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 429,954 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the state's List of cities in Minnesota, most populous city. Locat ...

in 1976, earning his B.S. in Business Administration. McNamara previously owned and operated Hoffman and McNamara Nursery and Landscape in

Hastings Hastings ( ) is a seaside town and Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in East Sussex on the south coast of England, east of Lewes and south east of London. The town gives its name to the Battle of Hastings, which took place to th ...

Minnesota House of Representatives

McNamara was elected to the Minnesota House of Representatives in 2002 and was re-elected in 2004, 2006, 2008, 2010, 2012, and 2014. He has served as the

ranking member In United States politics, a ranking member is the most senior member of a congressional or state legislative committee from the minority party. On many committees the ranking minority member, along with the Chair, serve as ''ex officio'' members ...

of the House Environment Policy and Oversight Committee, the House Ways and Means Committee, the Environment Policy and Oversight Subcommittee for the Game, Fish and Forestry Division, and the Finance subcommittees for the Environment and Natural Resources Finance Division and the Housing Finance and Policy and Public Health Finance Division. He was a

minority whip A whip is an official of a political party whose task is to ensure party discipline (that members of the party vote according to the party platform rather than their constituents, individual conscience or donors) in a legislature. Whips ...

during the 2007-2008 biennium. McNamara did not seek re-election in 2016.

Campaign for Minnesota Senate

On November 27, 2017, McNamara announced he would run in the

special election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, or a bypoll in India, is an election used to fill an office that has become vacant between general elections. A vacancy may arise as a result of an incumben ...

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 ...

seat vacated by

Dan Schoen Dan Schoen (born December 7, 1974) is an American politician and former member of the Minnesota Senate. A member of the Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party (DFL), he represented District 54 in the southeastern Twin Cities metropolitan are ...

. He won the Republican nomination in the primary election against James Brunsgaard. He lost the election to former DFL State Representative Karla Bigham and Libertarian candidate Emily Mellingen.

References

External links

Minnesota Public Radio Votetracker: Rep. Denny McNamara

Project Votesmart - Rep. Denny McNamara Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:McNamara, Denny 1952 births Living people People from West St. Paul, Minnesota People from Hastings, Minnesota University of Minnesota Duluth alumni Carlson School of Management alumni Republican Party members of the Minnesota House of Representatives 21st-century members of the Minnesota Legislature