Mark William Holsten (born September 6, 1965) is an American politician in

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 ...

. Holsten, a Republican, served in 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 ...

from 1993 to 2002. He represented district 56A until November 2002 and, after redistricting, won election in 52B but was appointed Deputy Commissioner of the

Minnesota Department of Natural Resources The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, or Minnesota DNR, is the agency of the U.S. state of Minnesota charged with conserving and managing the state's natural resources. The agency maintains areas such as state parks, state forests, rec ...

before the following session started. He served as chairman of the House Environment and Natural Resources Finance Committee. Holsten was appointed to replace Eugene R. Merriam as Commissioner of the Department of Natural Resources starting in January 2007.

Early life and education

Holsten holds a bachelor's degree in sociology and history from the

University of Minnesota Duluth The University of Minnesota Duluth (UMD) is a public university in Duluth, Minnesota, United States. It is part of the University of Minnesota System. UMD offers 17 bachelor's degrees in 87 majors, graduate programs in 24 different fields, a tw ...

and a teaching license from the University of Saint Thomas.

Electoral history

*2002 MN State House Seat 52B **Mark Holsten (R), 58.75% **Rebecca Otto (DFL), 41.17% *2000 MN State House Seat 56A **Mark Holsten (R), 57.57% **Joan M. Beaver (DFL), 42.43% *1998 MN State House Seat 56A **Mark Holsten (R), 64.3% **Paul A. Hetland (DFL), 35.5%

Personal life

Holsten is a

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 ...

. His father, Roy W. Holsten, also served in the

Minnesota Legislature The Minnesota Legislature is the bicameral legislature of the U.S. state of Minnesota consisting of two houses: the Senate and the House of Representatives. Senators are elected from 67 single-member districts. In order to account for decenn ...

References

External links

1965 births Living people University of Minnesota Duluth alumni University of St. Thomas (Minnesota) alumni Republican Party members of the Minnesota House of Representatives State cabinet secretaries of Minnesota Lutherans from Minnesota 21st-century members of the Minnesota Legislature {{Minnesota-MNRepresentative-Republican-stub