Peggy Bennett (born July 3, 1958) is an American politician serving 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 ...

since 2015. 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 ...

, Bennett represents District 23A in southern

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

Albert Lea Albert Lea may refer to: *Albert Lea, Minnesota, U.S. *Albert Lea Township, Freeborn County, Minnesota Albert Lea Township ( ) is a township in Freeborn County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 808 at the 2000 census. Myre-Big Islan ...

and parts of Faribault,

Freeborn "Freeborn" is a term associated with political agitator John Lilburne (1614–1657), a member of the Levellers, a 17th-century English political party. As a word, "freeborn" means born free, rather than in slavery or bondage or vassalage. Lilbu ...

, Steele and Waseca Counties.

Early life, education, and career

Bennett grew up in

White Bear Lake, Minnesota White Bear Lake is a city in Ramsey County, Minnesota, Ramsey County in the U.S. state, state of Minnesota, United States. A small portion of the city also extends into Washington County, Minnesota, Washington County. The population was 24,88 ...

. She graduated from Mound Westonka High School in

Mound, Minnesota Mound is a city in western Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 9,052 at the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census. Mound was the birthplace of the Tonka truck that is named after Lake Minnetonka, which the eastern part ...

; from Crown College in St. Bonifacius, Minnesota, with a

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

in education; and from

St. Cloud State University St. Cloud State University (SCSU) is a public university in St. Cloud, Minnesota, United States. Founded in 1869, the university is one of the largest institutions in the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities system. In the fall of 2023, it ...

in 1981 with a

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA or AM) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Those admitted to the degree have ...

in special education. Before entering politics, Bennett was a first-grade public school teacher in Albert Lea for 33 years.

Minnesota House of Representatives

Bennett was elected to the

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 ...

, and has been reelected every two years since. She defeated one-term DFL incumbent Shannon Savick, criticizing Savic and Democrats for raising taxes. During the

2016 Republican Presidential Primary Presidential primaries and caucuses of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party took place within all 50 U.S. states, the District of Columbia, and five U.S. territories between February 1 and June 7, 2016. These elections sele ...

, Bennett joined two dozen state lawmakers in endorsing Florida Senator

Marco Rubio Marco Antonio Rubio (; born May 28, 1971) is an American politician, lawyer, and diplomat serving since 2025 as the 72nd United States Secretary of State, United States secretary of state. A member of the Republican Party (United States) , Rep ...

. Bennett is the minority lead on the Education Policy Committee and serves on the Education Finance and Veterans and Military Affairs Finance and Policy Committees. From 2015-16, Bennett served as vice chair of the Education Innovation Policy Committee. She was an assistant minority leader from 2019 to 2022.

Education

Bennett has called for more local control in education decisions. She opposed efforts to provide free meals to all school children, regardless of family income, calling it a "shotgun approach". She supported a bill that would speed up the licensing process for substitute teachers in response to workforce shortages caused by the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, arguing that DFL proposals didn't go far enough. Bennett has spoken against bills to increase recruitment of teachers of color.

Other political positions

In 2018, Bennett authored legislation that passed unanimously creating a "sibling bill of rights" to help children in the foster care system avoid being separated from their siblings. She supported legislation increasing penalties on distracted driving and on protestors that block freeways. Bennett has been in contact and worked directly with an anti-LGBTQ group in Minnesota, the "Child Protection League." She has opposed proposals to raise the gas tax to pay for roads and bridges improvements. Bennett stated she carries a handgun while at the State Capitol. Bennett led House Republican opposition of the

Mayo Clinic Mayo Clinic () is a Nonprofit organization, private American Academic health science centre, academic Medical centers in the United States, medical center focused on integrated health care, healthcare, Mayo Clinic College of Medicine and Science ...

for its vaccine mandate policy for employees, calling for a halt in state funding for health care facilities that fire employees "due to unrealistic vaccine mandate policies".

Electoral history

Personal life

Bennett is single, and resides in

Albert Lea, Minnesota Albert Lea ( ) is a city in Freeborn County, Minnesota, Freeborn County, in southern Minnesota. It is the county seat. Its population was 18,492 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The city is at the junction of Interstates Intersta ...

References

External links

Peggy Bennett
''official Minnesota House of Representatives website''
Peggy Bennett
''official campaign website'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Bennett, Peggy 1958 births Living people People from White Bear Lake, Minnesota Republican Party members of the Minnesota House of Representatives Women state legislators in Minnesota Crown College (Minnesota) alumni St. Cloud State University alumni 21st-century American women politicians Schoolteachers from Minnesota 21st-century American women educators 20th-century American educators 21st-century American educators Politicians from Albert Lea, Minnesota 20th-century American women educators 21st-century members of the Minnesota Legislature