Gretchen M. Hoffman (born April 1957) 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 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 ...

who represents District 10, which included all or parts of

Becker Becker () is one of the German-language surnames, along with Bäcker and Baecker, that derive from the root, which refers to baking. The surname began as a name for a baker (and thus his family). In northern Germany, it can also derive from th ...

, Otter Tail, and Wadena Counties in the northwestern part of the state. A Republican, she is a registered nurse and a former small business owner.

Early life, education, and medical career

Hoffman was born and raised in

Fargo, North Dakota Fargo is the List of cities in North Dakota, most populous city in the U.S. state of North Dakota and the county seat of Cass County, North Dakota, Cass County. The population was 125,990 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, which was e ...

. She graduated from

Fargo South High School Fargo South High School, commonly known as Fargo South, South High, and South, is a public high school in Fargo, North Dakota. It serves about 1,000 students in grades 9-12. The school is a part of the Fargo Public Schools system. The school col ...

and later completed her R.N. training. She has worked as a cardiac intensive care nurse, an

emergency room An emergency department (ED), also known as an accident and emergency department (A&E), emergency room (ER), emergency ward (EW) or casualty department, is a medical treatment facility specializing in emergency medicine, the acute care of pat ...

nurse, a staff nurse, and a

chemotherapy Chemotherapy (often abbreviated chemo, sometimes CTX and CTx) is the type of cancer treatment that uses one or more anti-cancer drugs (list of chemotherapeutic agents, chemotherapeutic agents or alkylating agents) in a standard chemotherapy re ...

and

oncology Oncology is a branch of medicine that deals with the study, treatment, diagnosis, and prevention of cancer. A medical professional who practices oncology is an ''oncologist''. The name's Etymology, etymological origin is the Greek word ὄγ ...

nurse. She sits on the board of directors of GPK Products, Inc., a family-owned manufacturer of

PVC Polyvinyl chloride (alternatively: poly(vinyl chloride), colloquial: vinyl or polyvinyl; abbreviated: PVC) is the world's third-most widely produced synthetic polymer of plastic (after polyethylene and polypropylene). About 40 million tons o ...

water and

wastewater Wastewater (or waste water) is water generated after the use of freshwater, raw water, drinking water or saline water in a variety of deliberate applications or processes. Another definition of wastewater is "Used water from any combination of do ...

fittings. She also volunteers at a

pro-life Anti-abortion movements, also self-styled as pro-life movements, are involved in the abortion debate advocating against the practice of abortion and its legality. Many anti-abortion movements began as countermovements in response to the lega ...

clinic as a receptionist and nurse. She is a member of the

National Rifle Association of America The National Rifle Association of America (NRA) is a gun rights advocacy group based in the United States. Founded in 1871 to advance rifle marksmanship, the modern NRA has become a prominent Gun politics in the United States, gun rights ...

Minnesota Senate

2010 election

She ran for the

in the 10th district. She defeated incumbent Democratic State Senator Dan Skogen 55%-45%.

Tenure

On May 20, 2011, during a Health and Human Services budget debate, Hoffman tweeted: "#Sen Goodwin just called people with mental illness- idiots and imbeciles- while debating HHS bill #offensive #mndfl #mnsrc #mnleg". As a result of this tweet, which Senator Barb Goodwin called "mean-spirited" and a deliberate misrepresentation of her statement, Senator Ann Rest filed an ethics complaint against Hoffman. The Subcommittee on Ethical Conduct found that Hoffman's statement was "clearly misleading with respect to Goodwin's position regarding the public policy concerning the treatment of individuals with mental illnesses and disabilities" and ordered Hoffman to issue a written apology. On June 21, 2011, the Ethics Committee dismissed the complaint after Hoffman apologized to Goodwin, removed her original tweet, and tweeted a link to the committee's report on the case.

Committee assignments

Hoffman was a member of the Capital Investment, the Health and Human Services, the Judiciary and Public Safety, and the Taxes committees. Her special legislative concerns included taxes, health and human services, and E-12 education.

2012 congressional race

After redistricting was completed and maps were released, Hoffman decided in February 2012 to run in

Minnesota's 7th congressional district Minnesota's 7th congressional district covers the majority of western Minnesota. It is by far the state's largest district, and has a very rural character. Except for a few southern counties in the Minnesota's 1st congressional district, 1st ...

against incumbent Democratic U.S. Representative

Collin Peterson Collin Clark Peterson (born June 29, 1944) is an American accountant, politician, and lobbyist who served as the United States House of Representatives, U.S. representative for from 1991 to 2021. A member of the Minnesota Democratic–Farmer– ...

, who represented Minnesota's 10th Senate District himself in the 1970s and 1980s. She was unsuccessful in earning the Republican Party's endorsement, which went to Lee Byberg. Byberg lost to Peterson in the general election.

References

External links

Senator Gretchen Hoffman Web PageProject Vote Smart - Senator Gretchen Hoffman ProfileGretchen Hoffman Campaign Web Site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hoffman, Gretchen 1957 births Living people Republican Party Minnesota state senators Politicians from Fargo, North Dakota People from Otter Tail County, Minnesota Women state legislators in Minnesota 21st-century American women politicians Fargo South High School alumni 21st-century members of the Minnesota Legislature