Paul M. Torkelson ( ; born July 12, 1952) is an American politician serving as a 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 ...

since 2009. A member of the

Republican Party of Minnesota The Republican Party of Minnesota is the state affiliate of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party in Minnesota and the oldest active political party in the state. Founded in 1855, the party is headquartered in Edina, Minnesota, E ...

, Torkelson represents District 15B in southwestern

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 ...

, which includes the city of New Ulm and all or parts of Blue Earth,

Brown Brown is a color. It can be considered a composite color, but it is mainly a darker shade of orange. In the CMYK color model used in printing and painting, brown is usually made by combining the colors Orange (colour), orange and black. In the ...

, and

Redwood Sequoioideae, commonly referred to as redwoods, is a subfamily of Pinophyta, coniferous trees within the family (biology), family Cupressaceae, that range in the Northern Hemisphere, northern hemisphere. It includes the List of superlative tree ...

Counties.

Early life, education and career

Torkelson earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in instrumental music education from

Gustavus Adolphus College Gustavus Adolphus College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in St. Peter, Minnesota, United States. It was founded in 1862 by Swedish Americans led by Eric Norelius and is affiliated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. Gustavu ...

in 1974. In 2006, Governor

Tim Pawlenty Timothy James Pawlenty ( ; born November 27, 1960) is an American attorney, businessman, and politician who served from 2003 to 2011 as the 39th governor of Minnesota. A member of the Republican Party, Pawlenty served in the Minnesota House ...

appointed Torkelson to the Minnesota Governor's Clean Water Council, a position he held until his election to the House. He is a member of the Minnesota's Deer Hunters Association, a former vice president of the Minnesota

Farm Bureau The American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF), more informally called the American Farm Bureau (AFB) or simply the Farm Bureau, is a United States–based 501(c)(5) tax-exempt agricultural organization and lobbying group. Headquartered in Wash ...

, and a former chair of St. James Health Services. Torkelson is a fourth-generation Watonwan County corn, soybean and pork farmer, with family roots in the area since 1878, and a former music teacher. He 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 ...

Minnesota House of Representatives

Torkelson was elected to the

in 2008, succeeding incumbent Representative

Brad Finstad Bradley Howard Finstad (born May 30, 1976) is an American politician, farmer, and agricultural consultant serving as the U.S. representative for since 2022. Finstad represents a large section of southern Minnesota situated along the border with ...

, who decided not to seek reelection, and has been reelected every two years since. Torkelson was an assistant majority leader during the 2011-12 legislative session and an assistant minority leader from 2013-14. He chaired the Capital Investment Committee in 2015-16, and the Transportation Finance Committee in 2017-18. During the 2021-22 legislative session, Torkelson again served as an assistant majority leader. After the 2022 election, he was appointed to serve as deputy minority leader by incoming Minority Leader

Lisa Demuth Lisa Demuth ( ; born February 10, 1967) is an American politician serving since 2025 as the speaker of the Minnesota House of Representatives. A member of the Republican Party of Minnesota, Demuth represents District 13A in central Minnesota, whi ...

. Torkelson is also the minority lead on the Elections Finance and Policy Committee and Ethics Committees and sits on the Rules and Legislative Administration Committee.

Electoral history

References

External links

Rep. Torkelson Web Page

Project Votesmart – Rep. Paul Torkelson Profile

Paul Torkelson Campaign Web Site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Torkelson, Paul 1952 births Living people People from Brown County, Minnesota Gustavus Adolphus College alumni Republican Party members of the Minnesota House of Representatives Lutherans from Minnesota 21st-century members of the Minnesota Legislature