Earl W. Renneke (March 10, 1928 – March 3, 2021) was a former

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 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 ...

from southern Minnesota.

Life and career

He was first elected in a March 25, 1969, special election to fill the vacancy that arose due to the unexpected death of Senator

Harold Popp Harold R. Popp (June 17, 1903 – February 22, 1969) was an American pharmacist, businessman, and politician. Popp was born in Hutchinson, Minnesota. He graduated from Hutchinson. He received his bachelor's degree in pharmacy from Universit ...

in a traffic accident on February 21, 1969. He was re-elected in 1970, 1972, 1976, 1980, 1982, 1986 and 1990. He represented the old districts 15 and 23 and, later, District 35, which included all or portions of Blue Earth, Carver, LeSueur, McLeod, Nicollet,

Scott Scott may refer to: Places Canada * Scott, Quebec, municipality in the Nouvelle-Beauce regional municipality in Quebec * Scott, Saskatchewan, a town in the Rural Municipality of Tramping Lake No. 380 * Rural Municipality of Scott No. 98, Sas ...

and Sibley counties, changing somewhat through

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 ...

in 1970 and 1980. From the town of Le Sueur, Renneke, a farmer, earned a reputation as a strong advocate for agriculture and preservation of natural resources. His special legislative concerns included these issues, as well as corrections and education. He was a member of the Senate Agriculture & Natural Resources, Commerce, Corrections & Commitments, Elections & Reapportionment, Finance, Governmental Operations, Health & Welfare, Labor Relations, Local & Urban Government, Public Employees & Pensions, Rules & Administration, and Veterans & General Legislation committees, and of various other committee incarnations and subcommittees during his 24 years in office. He originally allied with the Conservative

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at a time when the legislature was still officially

nonpartisan Nonpartisan or non-partisan may refer to: __NOTOC__ General political concepts * Nonpartisanship, also known as Nonpartisanism, co-operation without reference to political parties * Non-partisan democracy, an election with no official recognition ...

, and later identified as a Republican when party affiliation became required of candidates. Renneke did not seek re-election in 1992. After leaving the legislature, he spearheaded an effort on behalf of the Sibley County Historical Society to obtain funding from the state for restoration of the 1879 county courthouse and development of the

Joseph R. Brown Joseph Renshaw Brown (1805–1870) was an American politician, pioneer, fur trader, newspaper editor, businessman, inventor, speculator, and Indian agent who was prominent in Minnesota and Wisconsin territorial and state politics for over 50 ye ...

Interpretive Center. Brown was an early state pioneer, entrepreneur and politician, and the founder of the town of

Henderson Henderson may refer to: People *Henderson (surname), description of the surname, and a list of people with the surname * Clan Henderson, a Scottish clan Places Argentina *Henderson, Buenos Aires Australia *Henderson, Western Australia Canada *H ...

. In 1999, Governor Jesse Ventura appointed Renneke to serve on the Minnesota Compensation Council, which determines the salaries of the state’s elected and appointed officials. In 2005, he was appointed by the Legislative Commission on Minnesota Resources to serve on the Environment & Natural Resources Trust Fund Advisory Task Force. He served as chairman of the campaign committee for Senator Dennis Frederickson of New Ulm.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Renneke, Earl 1928 births 2021 deaths Republican Party Minnesota state senators People from Sibley County, Minnesota People from Le Sueur, Minnesota American Lutherans University of Minnesota alumni People from St. Peter, Minnesota Farmers from Minnesota 20th-century members of the Minnesota Legislature