Jerry O. Relph (September 4, 1944December 18, 2020) was an American politician and 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

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 ...

, he represented District 14 in central

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 ...

from 2017 until his death from

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quickl ...

complications in 2020. Prior to his death, he attended a superspreader event, along with several other Minnesota Republicans, where attendees did not comply with public health recommendations, such as wearing protective face masks.

Early life, education, and career

Relph was born in

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the capital city, state capital and List of municipalities in Massachusetts, most populous city of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financ ...

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...

, and attended high school in Ann Arbor, Michigan. He attended

Carleton College Carleton College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Northfield, Minnesota. Founded in 1866, it had 2,105 undergraduate students and 269 faculty members in fall 2016. The 200-acre main campus is between Northfield and the 800-acre Cowlin ...

, graduating in 1966 with a

Bachelor of Arts 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 yea ...

degree, and

William Mitchell College of Law William Mitchell College of Law was a private, independent law school located in St. Paul, Minnesota, United States, from 1956 to 2015. Accredited by the American Bar Association (ABA), it offered full- and part-time legal education in pursuit of ...

, graduating in 1974 with a

Juris Doctor The Juris Doctor (J.D. or JD), also known as Doctor of Jurisprudence (J.D., JD, D.Jur., or DJur), is a graduate-entry professional degree in law and one of several Doctor of Law degrees. The J.D. is the standard degree obtained to practice l ...

. After graduating from Carleton, Relph enlisted in the

Marine Corps Marines, or naval infantry, are typically a military force trained to operate in littoral zones in support of naval operations. Historically, tasks undertaken by marines have included helping maintain discipline and order aboard the ship (refle ...

, spending 14 months in South Vietnam. After that, he worked for 3M in personnel while attending law school. He later joined a small law firm in St. Charles, Minnesota, specializing in municipal, real estate, business, and tax law. In 1984, Relph moved to

St. Cloud, Minnesota St. Cloud is a city in the U.S. state of Minnesota and the largest population center in the state's central region. The population was 68,881 at the 2020 census, making it Minnesota's 12th-largest city. St. Cloud is the county seat of Stea ...

and joined the Hughes law firm, specializing in municipal and

zoning law Zoning is a method of urban planning in which a municipality or other tier of government divides land into areas called zones, each of which has a set of regulations for new development that differs from other zones. Zones may be defined for a si ...

. He later joined LakeMaster.

Minnesota Senate

In his first run for public office, Relph was elected to the

in 2016, defeating Democratic–Farmer–Labor candidate

Dan Wolgamott Dan Wolgamott (born October 24, 1990) is an American politician serving in the Minnesota House of Representatives since 2019. A member of the Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party (DFL), Wolgamott represents District 14B in central Minnesota ...

by 141 votes. He ran for reelection in 2020, losing to Democratic–Farmer–Labor candidate

Aric Putnam Aric Putnam (born July 7, 1972) is an American politician and a member of the Minnesota Senate. A member of the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party (DFL), he represents District 14, which includes parts of Benton, Sherburne, and Stearns counties in ...

. Putnam declared victory a week following the election, with a lead of 315 votes. Relph requested and paid for a recount, which resulted in a gain of two votes for Putnam and three for Relph. Relph never formally conceded the election.

Political positions

Relph opposed a paid family/sick leave proposal, calling it a "statewide social security system". He opposed

universal preschool Universal preschool is an international movement supporting the use of public funding to provide preschool education to all families. This movement is focused on promoting a global, rather than local, preschool program. The goal is to provide equ ...

, calling it a "step to creating cradle to grave control by the government." In early 2020, Relph expressed concern over

, arguing the state was inadequately prepared to combat it. He authored legislation, which was signed into law, to provide nearly $2.1 million in aid to fight the pandemic.

Personal life

Relph was married to Colette Relph from 1972 until her death in 1999. They had two children. In 2002, he married Pegi Broker, with whom he had four stepchildren. He lived in St. Cloud.

Death

Relph was one of several Minnesota Republicans who tested positive for

during the

COVID-19 pandemic in Minnesota The COVID-19 pandemic in Minnesota is part of an ongoing pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in the state of Minnesota. The first confirmed case was reported on March 6, 2020. Governor Tim Walz declared a state of emergency on March ...

after attending an in-person post-election party on November 5, 2020. At the party, there was little compliance with public health recommendations, such as wearing face masks. He was hospitalized in mid-November. After weeks of hospitalization, Relph died from complications of the virus on December 18. His daughter, angry at the get-together that preceded his illness, asked, "Why are you throwing a party with 100-plus people in the middle of a pandemic?"

References

External links

Official Senate website

Official campaign website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Relph, Jerry 1944 births 2020 deaths 20th-century American lawyers 21st-century American lawyers 21st-century American politicians Carleton College alumni Deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic in Minnesota Military personnel from Massachusetts Military personnel from Minnesota Minnesota lawyers Republican Party Minnesota state senators Politicians from Boston Politicians from St. Cloud, Minnesota United States Marine Corps personnel of the Vietnam War William Mitchell College of Law alumni