Karin Housley ( ;

née The birth name is the name of the person given upon their birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name or to the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a births registe ...

Locke; born January 20, 1964) is an American politician serving since 2013 as a 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 ...

, representing District 33. A Republican, she represents Forest Lake, Stillwater, and the surrounding St. Croix Valley. Housley was the party's nominee in Minnesota's 2018 United States Senate special election, which she lost to

Tina Smith Christine Elizabeth Smith (née Flint, born March 4, 1958) is an American politician, retired Democratic political consultant, and former businesswoman serving as the Seniority in the United States Senate, junior United States Senate, United Sta ...

Early life, education, and career

Housley was born and raised in South St. Paul, Minnesota. She graduated from South St. Paul High School in 1982 and briefly attended Augsburg College before moving to

Buffalo, New York Buffalo is a Administrative divisions of New York (state), city in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York and county seat of Erie County, New York, Erie County. It lies in Western New York at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of ...

, after her high school sweetheart,

Phil Housley Phillip Francis Housley (born March 9, 1964) is an American professional ice hockey coach and former defenseman in the National Hockey League (NHL). He previously served as assistant coach for the Arizona Coyotes of the NHL from 2019 to 2022, a ...

, was drafted by the

Buffalo Sabres The Buffalo Sabres are a professional ice hockey team based in Buffalo, New York. The Sabres compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NHL), Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), Eastern Con ...

. She enrolled at the

State University of New York at Buffalo The State University of New York at Buffalo (commonly referred to as UB, University at Buffalo, and sometimes SUNY Buffalo) is a public research university in Buffalo and Amherst, New York, United States. The university was founded in 1846 a ...

, graduating in 1987 with a B.A. in

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 differ ...

. Housley then worked as a news producer for

WGRZ WGRZ (channel 2) is a television station in Buffalo, New York, United States, affiliated with NBC and owned by Tegna Inc. The station's studios are located on Delaware Avenue in downtown Buffalo, and its transmitter is located on Warner Hill Ro ...

and WKBW in Buffalo until 1991.

Minnesota Senate

Housley has represented Forest Lake, Stillwater, and communities along the St. Croix Valley in the

since 2013. As a state senator, she is best known for her work on issues related to aging and long-term care and veterans. Housley was instrumental in creating the first

committee on aging, which she chaired. In

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

, Housley authored "landmark" legislation to provide enhanced protections for elderly and vulnerable adults in senior care facilities and licensed

assisted living facilities An assisted living residence or assisted living facility (ALF) is a housing facility for people with disabilities or for adults who cannot or who choose not to live independently. The term is popular in the United States. Still, the setting is ...

in Minnesota for the first time. Housley was selected by her colleagues to serve as an assistant majority leader in both the 91st and 92nd sessions of the Minnesota Legislature. Karin Housley 2018

Political campaigns

In her first campaign for public office, Housley ran for the

in 2010 and narrowly lost to DFL incumbent Katie Sieben. After

redistricting Redistricting in the United States is the process of drawing electoral district boundaries. For the United States House of Representatives, and state legislatures, redistricting occurs after each ten-year census. The U.S. Constitution in Art ...

placed Housley's residence in a new district, she was elected to the Senate in 2012, defeating her opponent by 1% of the vote. She was reelected in 2016 by more than 20 points. Housley was reelected again in 2020 and 2022. In

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

, Housley was selected by Republican gubernatorial candidate Scott Honour, a businessman from Orono, to be his candidate for lieutenant governor of Minnesota. They lost the 2014 Republican primary to Jeff Johnson. In December 2017, Housley announced her candidacy for the Republican nomination in the 2018 special election for United States Senate. The seat was vacated by

Al Franken Alan Stuart Franken (born May 21, 1951) is an American politician, comedian, and actor who served from 2009 to 2018 as a United States senator from Minnesota. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he worked as an ...

, who resigned amid allegations of sexual misconduct.

Governor A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...

Mark Dayton appointed

Lieutenant Governor A lieutenant governor, lieutenant-governor, or vice governor is a high officer of state, whose precise role and rank vary by jurisdiction. Often a lieutenant governor is the deputy, or lieutenant, to or ranked under a governor — a "second-in-comm ...

to fill the vacancy, and Smith announced her candidacy for election to the seat. Housley comfortably won the Republican primary but lost to Smith in the general election. Housley was criticized during the campaign for a 2009 Facebook post in which she made a comparison between then- First Lady

Michelle Obama Michelle LaVaughn Robinson Obama ( Robinson; born January 17, 1964) is an American attorney and author who served as the first lady of the United States from 2009 to 2017, being married to Barack Obama, the 44th president of the United Stat ...

's posture and

Ronald Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan (February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004) was an American politician and actor who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He was a member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party a ...

's character in ''

Bedtime for Bonzo ''Bedtime for Bonzo'' is a 1951 American comedy film directed by Fred de Cordova and starring Ronald Reagan, Diana Lynn, and a chimpanzee named Peggy as Bonzo. Its central character, a psychology professor (Reagan), tries to teach human morals t ...

''. In March 2019, Housley registered a

political action committee In the United States, a political action committee (PAC) is a tax-exempt 527 organization that pools campaign contributions from members and donates those funds to campaigns for or against candidates, ballot initiatives, or legislation. The l ...

to assist conservative candidates running for office in Minnesota, fueling speculation that she would run for the same U.S. Senate seat again in

2020 The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...

. She ultimately decided against it, instead announcing she would run for reelection to the

Personal life

After living in Buffalo,

Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Manitoba. It is centred on the confluence of the Red River of the North, Red and Assiniboine River, Assiniboine rivers. , Winnipeg h ...

St. Louis St. Louis ( , sometimes referred to as St. Louis City, Saint Louis or STL) is an independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It lies near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a populatio ...

Calgary Calgary () is a major city in the Canadian province of Alberta. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806 making it the third-largest city and fifth-largest metropolitan area in C ...

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

, and Phoenix during Phil's

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; , ''LNH'') is a professional ice hockey league in North America composed of 32 teams25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Cana ...

career, the Housleys moved back to Minnesota in 2003. Karin and Phil have four children, all graduates of

Stillwater Area High School Stillwater Area High School (SAHS) is a public school located in Oak Park Heights, Minnesota, United States. It serves as the primary high school for the Stillwater Area Public School District (834), the oldest public school district in Minneso ...

, and four grandchildren. They reside in Stillwater, where Housley also owns a real estate business. She is

Lutheran Lutheranism is a major branch of Protestantism that emerged under the work of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German friar and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practices of the Catholic Church launched ...

Electoral history

References

External links

Senator Karin Housley
official Minnesota Senate website
Karin Housley for Senate
official campaign website *
Senator Karin Housley
official Minnesota Senate Republican Caucus website {{DEFAULTSORT:Housley, Karin 1964 births 21st-century American women politicians 21st-century members of the Minnesota Legislature Candidates in the 2018 United States Senate elections Augsburg University alumni Living people Lutherans from Minnesota People from South St. Paul, Minnesota Republican Party Minnesota state senators University at Buffalo alumni Women state legislators in Minnesota