Jeanne E. Poppe (born July 6, 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 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

Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party The Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party (DFL) is a political party in the U.S. state of Minnesota affiliated with the national Democratic Party. The party was formed by a merger between the Minnesota Democratic Party and the Minneso ...

(DFL), she represented District 27B, which includes all or portions of

Dodge Dodge is an American brand of automobiles and a division of Stellantis, based in Auburn Hills, Michigan. Dodge vehicles have historically included performance cars, and for much of its existence, Dodge was Chrysler's mid-priced brand above P ...

Freeborn "Freeborn" is a term associated with political agitator John Lilburne (1614–1657), a member of the Levellers, a 17th-century English political party. As a word, "freeborn" means born free, rather than in slavery or bondage or vassalage. Lilbu ...

, and

Mower A mower is a person or machine that cuts (mows) grass or other plants that grow on the ground. Usually mowing is distinguished from reaping, which uses similar implements, but is the traditional term for harvesting grain crops, e.g. with reape ...

counties in the southeastern part of the state. She is an educator and counselor at

Riverland Community College Riverland Community College is a public community college with three campuses in southeastern Minnesota: Albert Lea, Austin, and Owatonna. Founded in 1940, Riverland offers educational programs and courses to over 4,900 students annually throug ...

, with campuses in

Albert Lea Albert Lea may refer to: *Albert Lea, Minnesota, U.S. *Albert Lea Township, Freeborn County, Minnesota Albert Lea Township ( ) is a township in Freeborn County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 808 at the 2000 census. Myre-Big Islan ...

Austin Austin refers to: Common meanings * Austin, Texas, United States, a city * Austin (given name), a list of people and fictional characters * Austin (surname), a list of people and fictional characters * Austin Motor Company, a British car manufac ...

and Owatonna.

Early life, education, and career

Poppe was born in

Houston, Minnesota Houston ( ) is a city in Houston County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 997 at the 2020 census. History The community was named after Sam Houston, first president of the Republic of Texas. In 1852, William McSpadden platted th ...

and attended Houston High School where she graduated in 1975. She graduated from 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 ...

in River Falls, receiving her

B.A. A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree ...

in Sociology and Criminal Justice in 1980. She earned her

M.S. A Master of Science (; abbreviated MS, M.S., MSc, M.Sc., SM, S.M., ScM or Sc.M.) is a master's degree. In contrast to the Master of Arts degree, the Master of Science degree is typically granted for studies in sciences, engineering and medicine ...

in Counseling from

Winona State University Winona State University is a public university in Winona, Minnesota, United States. It was founded as First State Normal School of Minnesota in 1858 and is the oldest member of the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities System. It was the fi ...

in Winona in 1985. She has been a college counselor at Riverland Community College since 1999, also serving as president of the Minnesota State College Faculty Counselors Association from 2002 to 2004. Prior to her work as a counselor, she was the college's director of admissions from 1995 to 1999, and the women's center director from 1993 to 1995. She was a workforce career counselor for the Private Industry Council from 1989 to 1993, and a senior citizens' paralegal for Southern Minnesota Regional Legal Services from 1984 to 1989. Active in her local community through the years, Poppe served on the Austin City Council (Ward 2) from 1994 to 2002, and was secretary of the Austin Human Rights Commission from 2002 to 2004. She has been a trustee of the Austin Area Foundation since 2003, and a member of the Austin Area

League of Women Voters The League of Women Voters (LWV) is a nonpartisan American nonprofit political organization. Founded in 1920, its ongoing major activities include Voter registration, registering voters, providing voter information, boosting voter turnout and adv ...

since 1987.

Minnesota House of Representatives

Elections

Poppe ran unsuccessfully in 2002 against Rep. Jeff Anderson. She was first elected in 2004 defeating Anderson in a close race. She was re-elected in 2006, 2008, 2010, 2012, and 2014, 2016, and 2018 before being unseated in 2020.

Committee assignments

For the 89th Minnesota Legislature, Poppe is a part of: *Agriculture Finance Committee (DFL Lead) *Agriculture Policy Committee *Capital Investment Committee *Environment and Natural Resources Policy and Finance Committee *Ways and Means Committee For the

88th Minnesota Legislature The Eighty-eighth Minnesota Legislature was the legislature of the U.S. state of Minnesota from January 8, 2013, to January 5, 2015. It was composed of the Senate and the House of Representatives, based on the results of the 2012 Senate elect ...

, Poppe was part of: *Agriculture Policy (Chair) Committee *Environment, Natural Resources and Agriculture Finance Committee *Higher Education Finance and Policy Committee *Ways and Means Committee For the

87th Minnesota Legislature The eighty-seventh Minnesota Legislature was the legislature of the U.S. state of Minnesota from January 4, 2011, to January 7, 2013. It was composed of the Minnesota Senate, Senate and the Minnesota House of Representatives, House of Represen ...

, Poppe was part of: *Agriculture and Rural Development Policy and Finance Committee *Higher Education Policy and Finance Committee *Redistricting Committee For the 86th Minnesota Legislature, Poppe was part of: *Finance Subcommittee: Higher Education and Workforce Development Finance and Policy Division *Bioscience and Workforce Development Policy and Oversight Division Committee *Finance Subcommittee: State Government Finance Division *State and Local Government Operations Reform, Technology and Elections Committee For the 85th Minnesota Legislature, Poppe was part of: *Finance Committee *Finance Subcommittee: Agriculture, Rural Economies and Veterans Affairs Finance Division *Finance Subcommittee: Education Finance and Economic Competitiveness Finance Division: Higher Education and Work Force Development Policy and Finance Division *Finance Subcommittee: State Government Finance Division *Governmental Operations, Reform, Technology and Elections Committee For the 84th Minnesota Legislature, Poppe was part of: *Environment and Natural Resources Committee *Local Government Committee *Rules and Legislative Administration Committee

Tenure

Poppe was sworn in on January 4, 2005. She served in the 84th, 85th, 86th, 87th, 88th, 89th,

90th 9 (nine) is the natural number following and preceding . Evolution of the Hindu–Arabic digit Circa 300 BC, as part of the Brahmi numerals, various Indians wrote a digit 9 similar in shape to the modern closing question mark without the bot ...

, and 91st Minnesota Legislatures.

Personal life

Poppe resides in

Austin, Minnesota Austin is a city in and the county seat of Mower County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 26,174 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The town was originally settled along the Cedar River (Iowa River), Cedar River and has ...

, and was married to Bob Vilt who died July 13, 2017. They have three children, Lydia, Casey, Skyler.

References

External links

Rep. Poppe Web Page

Project Votesmart - Rep. Jeanne Poppe Profile

Minnesota Public Radio Votetracker: Rep. Jeanne Poppe

Jeanne Poppe Campaign Web Site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Poppe, Jeanne 1957 births Living people People from Houston, Minnesota American Lutherans Democratic Party members of the Minnesota House of Representatives Minnesota city council members Women state legislators in Minnesota University of Wisconsin–River Falls alumni 21st-century American women politicians People from Austin, Minnesota 21st-century members of the Minnesota Legislature