Heather Edelson (born April 4, 1981) is an American politician serving in the

Minnesota House of Representatives The Minnesota House of Representatives is the lower house of the Minnesota Legislature, Legislature of the U.S. state of Minnesota. There are 134 members, twice as many as the Minnesota Senate. Floor sessions are held in the north wing of the Min ...

since 2019. A member of the

Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party The Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party (DFL) is the Minnesota affiliate of the U.S. Democratic Party. As of 2022, it controls four of Minnesota's eight U.S. House seats, both of its U.S. Senate seats, the Minnesota House of Repr ...

(DFL), Edelson represents District 50A in the western

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metropolitan area, which includes the city of

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and parts of

Hennepin County Hennepin County ( ) is a county in the U.S. state of Minnesota. Its county seat is Minneapolis, the state's most populous city. The county is named in honor of the 17th-century explorer Father Louis Hennepin. The county extends from Minneap ...

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the List of U.S. states and territories by population, 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minne ...

Early life, education, and career

Edelson was raised in north

Minneapolis Minneapolis () is the largest city in Minnesota, United States, and the county seat of Hennepin County. The city is abundant in water, with list of lakes in Minneapolis, thirteen lakes, wetlands, the Mississippi River, creeks and waterfalls. ...

and attended Columbia Heights Public Schools. She attended the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota, formally the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, (UMN Twin Cities, the U of M, or Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Tw ...

, earning a M.S.W and was the first person from her family to graduate from college. Edelson has worked as a mental health therapist, and served as a

Guardian ad Litem A legal guardian is a person who has been appointed by a court or otherwise has the legal authority (and the corresponding duty) to make decisions relevant to the personal and property interests of another person who is deemed incompetent, calle ...

. She served on the

Public School Board Special Education Advisory Council, as well as the Edina Race and Equity Working Group. Edelson also served as the Human Rights and Relations Commissioner for Edina.

Minnesota House of Representatives

Edelson was elected to the

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and has been reelected every two years since. She first ran for the DFL party endorsement in 2016, losing to

Ron Erhardt Ronald Peter Erhardt (February 27, 1931 – March 21, 2012) was an American football coach at both the collegiate and professional levels. From 1979 to 1981 he served as head coach of the National Football League's New England Patriots. Early ...

, an 11-term incumbent who switched from the Republican to the DFL party in 2010. Erhardt lost in the general election, and Edelson won the DFL endorsement in 2018, going on to defeat one-term

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or again ...

incumbent Dario Anselmo. Edelson serves as vice chair of the Ways and Means Committee, and sits on the Education Finance, Environment and Natural Resources Finance and Policy, and Human Services Policy Committees. From 2021-22, she served as an assistant majority leader. Edelson carried legislation that would raise the legal age of tobacco, e-cigarretes and vaping devices to 21, and has spoken in support of assisted-suicide legislation. She sponsored legislation to give grants to religious groups to increase security following a rise in anti-semitic attacks. Edelson worked on bipartisan legislation to fix the competency restoration program along with Republican Representative Tony Albright, adopting recommendations from a task force dealing with gaps in the system for those who are found to be incompetent to stand trial. After concerns were raised over price and accessibility, Edelson authored a bill that would add the whole cannabis flower to the state's medical cannabis program, stating it would decrease reliance on painkillers and opiods. She also drafted a bill that would allow medical cannabis and CBD oil in schools for student's with a doctor's approval. In 2022, Edelson successfully sponsored legislation that legalized food and beverages, including gummies, containing THC if it was derived from hemp. The legislation was enacted in part to address previously unregulated delta-8 THC products. It is unclear if leaders of the

Minnesota Senate The Minnesota Senate is the upper house of the 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 U.S. state legislature. Floor sessions are h ...

understood that this legislation would legalize products with delta-9 THC. Edelson stated she wrote the legislation to strengthen consumer protections in an emerging market, and that she would write bills to add additional requirements and work with local governments to help them regulate THC edibles.

Electoral history

Personal life

Edelson was raised agnostic but converted to Judaism. She is married to her husband, Brett, the CEO for UnitedHealthcare of MN, ND & SD. They have three children and reside in

Edina, Minnesota Edina ( ) is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States and a first-ring suburb of Minneapolis. The population was 53,494 at the 2020 census, making it the 18th most populous city in Minnesota. Edina began as a small farming and mil ...

References

External links

Official House of Representatives website

Official campaign website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Edelson, Heather 1981 births Living people People from Edina, Minnesota University of Minnesota alumni Democratic Party members of the Minnesota House of Representatives 21st-century American politicians 21st-century American women politicians Women state legislators in Minnesota Jewish American state legislators in Minnesota