Roger Moe (born June 2, 1944) is an American politician who served as a member and majority leader 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 ...

. He was the Democratic nominee for governor in the 2002 Minnesota gubernatorial election.

Early life and education

Born in Crookston, Moe graduated from Crookston Central High School and received his college degree from Mayville State College in

North Dakota North Dakota ( ) is a U.S. state in the Upper Midwest, named after the indigenous Dakota people, Dakota and Sioux peoples. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba to the north and by the U.S. states of Minneso ...

. His graduate studies were completed at Moorhead State University and

North Dakota State University North Dakota State University (NDSU, formally North Dakota State University of Agriculture and Applied Sciences) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Fargo, North Dakota, United States. It was ...

in Fargo. In 2005, he received an Honorary LL.D from the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota Twin Cities (historically known as University of Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint ...

Career

Before running for office, he taught math and coached wrestling at Ada High School in

Ada, Minnesota Ada ( ) is a city in Norman County, Minnesota, Norman County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 1,740 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It is the county seat. Minnesota State Highways Minnesota State Highway 9, 9 and M ...

Politics

Moe was elected to the Senate in 1970, and was the second-youngest senator in state history at the time. He represented the old District 66 during the 1971–72 biennium and, after the 1972 legislative

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 ...

, District 2 for the remainder of his time in office. Through the years, he represented all or parts of Becker, Beltrami,

Clay Clay is a type of fine-grained natural soil material containing clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g. kaolinite, ). Most pure clay minerals are white or light-coloured, but natural clays show a variety of colours from impuriti ...

, Clearwater, Mahnomen, Norman, Polk and Red Lake counties in the northwestern part of the state. Moe became the Senate's majority leader in 1981, a position he held for 22 years. He is the longest-serving state majority leader, and the longest-serving leader of either of Minnesota's legislative bodies. His brother, Donald Moe, was also a member of the legislature, serving in both the House and Senate. Moe sponsored an initiative to transfer

lottery A lottery (or lotto) is a form of gambling that involves the drawing of numbers at random for a prize. Some governments outlaw lotteries, while others endorse it to the extent of organizing a national or state lottery. It is common to find som ...

proceeds to Minnesota environmental projects (Legislative Commission on Minnesota Resources – LCMR), the creation of the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities governance system, the Midwestern Higher Education Compact, and the Environmental Trust Fund. After running for lieutenant governor with Skip Humphrey in the 1998 Minnesota gubernatorial election, Moe ran for governor against

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 ...

, Tim Penny and Ken Pentel in 2002. Pawlenty won that election. Moe and his running mate, Julie Sabo, received 36% of the vote in the general election to Pawlenty's 44%.

Later career

Moe has retired from public office. He is a business consultant and lobbyist, and serves on several state and national nonprofit boards, and on the Minnesota Job Skills Partnership Board.

Electoral history

*2002 Race for Governor **

(R), 44% **Roger Moe (DFL), 36% ** Tim Penny (IPM), 16% **Ken Pentel (Grn), 2%

References

External links

Minnesota Public Radio Profile: Roger MoeRoger Deane Moe papers
are available for research use at th
Minnesota Historical Society.
* , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Moe, Roger 1944 births Living people American Lutherans Democratic Party Minnesota state senators Minnesota State University Moorhead alumni People from Crookston, Minnesota North Dakota State University alumni Businesspeople from Minnesota Schoolteachers from Minnesota 20th-century members of the Minnesota Legislature 21st-century members of the Minnesota Legislature