Gary W. Laidig (born August 15, 1948) 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 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 ...

and 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 Republican, he was first elected to the House in 1972, and represented the old District 51A for five terms. In 1982 he ran successfully for the Senate, and represented the old District 55 and, after the 1992 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 old District 56 until 2001. While in office, he resided in Bayport and Stillwater. The various configurations of his district included portions of Washington County in the eastern

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. He was not endorsed for re-election in 2000, and was succeeded by

Michele Bachmann Michele Marie Bachmann (; née Amble; born April 6, 1956) is an American politician who was the United States House of Representatives, U.S. representative for from 2007 until 2015. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican P ...

Service in the Minnesota House (1973–1983)

While in the House, Laidig served on the Agriculture, Appropriations, Criminal Justice, Education, General Legislation and Veterans Affairs, Health and Welfare, Local and Urban Affairs, Reapportionment and Elections, and Rules and Legislative Administration committees, and of various subcommittees relevant to each. He was chair of the Criminal Justice Subcommittee for Law Enforcement and Corrections during the 1979-1980 biennium.

Service in the Minnesota Senate (1983–2001)

While in the Senate, Laidig served on the Agriculture, Crime Prevention, Economic Development and Commerce, Ethics and Campaign Reform, Environment and Natural Resources, Judiciary, Metropolitan Affairs, Rules and Administration, Taxes and Tax Laws, Transportation, and Veterans and Military Affairs committees, and of various subcommittees relevant to each. His special legislative concerns while in office included taxes, the environment, economic development, and small business.

Education and community service

Laidig graduated from

Minnetonka High School Minnetonka High School is a four-year public high school in Minnetonka, Minnesota, United States, a western suburb of Minneapolis-St. Paul. ''Newsweek'' ranked the school 123rd on its list of America's Top High Schools. Niche ranked it 3rd am ...

Minnetonka Minnetonka ( ) is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States. A western suburb of the Twin Cities, Minnetonka is located about west of Minneapolis. At the 2020 census, the city's population was 53,781. Minnetonka is the home of Car ...

in 1966. He served in the

United States Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines or simply the Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is responsible for conducting expeditionar ...

, and was deployed in

South Vietnam South Vietnam, officially the Republic of Vietnam (RVN; , VNCH), was a country in Southeast Asia that existed from 1955 to 1975. It first garnered Diplomatic recognition, international recognition in 1949 as the State of Vietnam within the ...

from 1968 to 1970 during the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...

. He attended 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 ...

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 ...

, Morningside College in

Sioux City, Iowa Sioux City () is a city in Woodbury County, Iowa, Woodbury and Plymouth County, Iowa, Plymouth counties in the U.S. state of Iowa. The population was 85,797 in the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, making it the List of cities in Iowa, fo ...

, and the

University of Wisconsin A university () is an institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly means "community of teachers and scholars". Uni ...

River Falls, Wisconsin River Falls is a city in Pierce and St. Croix counties in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. It is located mostly within the town of River Falls, and adjacent to the town of Kinnickinnic in St. Croix County. River Falls is the most populous city ...

, where he majored in

pre-Law In the United States and Canada, pre-law (or prelaw) refers to any course of study taken by an undergraduate in preparation for study at a law school. The American Bar Association (ABA) requires law schools to admit only students with an accredi ...

. Prior to running for public office, he served on the Washington County Juvenile Justice Advisory Committee. He is currently a

lobbyist Lobbying is a form of advocacy, which lawfully attempts to directly influence legislators or government officials, such as regulatory agencies or judiciary. Lobbying involves direct, face-to-face contact and is carried out by various entities, in ...

for the Ramsey County Sheriff's Department, and resides in Woodbury.

References

External links

Rep. Gary Laidig Papers 1973-1982
{{DEFAULTSORT:Laidig, Gary W. 1948 births Living people Republican Party Minnesota state senators Republican Party members of the Minnesota House of Representatives People from Woodbury, Minnesota Politicians from York, Pennsylvania Methodists from Minnesota Morningside University alumni United States Marines University of Minnesota alumni University of Wisconsin–River Falls alumni 20th-century members of the Minnesota Legislature