Jeffrey D. Hayden (born September 24, 1966) is a

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 ...

politician and former member 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 ...

. 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), he represented District 62, which includes portions of south

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. ...

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 ...

in the

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.

Early life, education, and career

Hayden was born in

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

. He worked as a staff aide to

Minneapolis City Council The Minneapolis City Council is the lawmaking body of Minneapolis. It consists of 13 members, elected from separate wards to four-year terms, via a ranked-choice method. The council structure has been in place since the 1950s. In recent elections ...

member

Gary Schiff Gary Schiff (born February 3, 1972, as Gary J. Schiffhauer) is an American politician and activist who represented Ward 9 on the Minneapolis City Council. A member of the Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party (DFL), he was first elected in 2001 ...

from 2001-2002. He later attended Bethel University, obtaining a

B.A. Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four ye ...

communication studies Communication studies or communication science is an academic discipline that deals with processes of human communication and behavior, patterns of communication in interpersonal relationships, social interactions and communication in diffe ...

Minnesota House of Representatives

Hayden was first elected in 2008, opting to run after incumbent Rep. Neva Walker decided not to seek re-election. He was re-elected in 2010.

Minnesota Senate

On July 25, 2011, Hayden announced that he would run in the October 18, 2011, special election to fill the state senate seat that was vacated by Senator Linda Berglin, who resigned on August 15, 2011, to take a new job with Hennepin County as a health policy program manager. His candidacy was endorsed by the DFL Party on August 27, 2011. On October 18, 2011, he won the special election with 61 percent of the vote over

Green Party A green party is a formally organized political party based on the principles of green politics, such as social justice, environmentalism and nonviolence. Greens believe that these issues are inherently related to one another as a foundati ...

candidate Farheen Hakeem,

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 ...

candidate Bruce Lundeen, and Independence Party candidate Matt Brillhart. He was re-elected in 2012.

Community involvement

Hayden is a non-profit manager for Hearth Connection, which provides affordable housing advocacy. He is a founding member of the City of Lakes Community Land Trust. He also served on the board of directors of the Bryant Neighborhood Association and of the Powderhorn Park Neighborhood Association, and as board member of Community Action of Minneapolis.

Investigations

In October 2015, a court-sanctioned investigation found Hayden, and his wife Theresa received at least $3,486 in improper reimbursements from a now-defunct nonprofit organization, Community Action of Minneapolis. On August 11, 2020, Mr. Hayden lost the DFL primary to Omar Fateh, a progressive candidate.

References

External links

Senator Jeff Hayden
''official Minnesota Senate website''
Project Votesmart - Rep. Jeff Hayden Profile

Senator Jeff Hayden
''official campaign website'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Hayden, Jeff 1966 births Living people Politicians from Minneapolis African-American state legislators in Minnesota Democratic Party Minnesota state senators Bethel University (Minnesota) alumni Metropolitan State University alumni 21st-century American politicians 21st-century African-American politicians 20th-century African-American people