Susan Allen (born March 27, 1963) is an American politician and former member of the

Minnesota House of Representatives The Minnesota House of Representatives is the lower house of the Minnesota Legislature, Legislature of the U.S. state of Minnesota. There are 134 members, twice as many as the Minnesota Senate. Floor sessions are held in the north wing of the Min ...

. A member of the

Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party The Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party (DFL) is the Minnesota affiliate of the U.S. Democratic Party. As of 2022, it controls four of Minnesota's eight U.S. House seats, both of its U.S. Senate seats, the Minnesota House of Repr ...

(DFL), she represented District 62B, a southside district encompassing the Powderhorn and

Bryant Bryant may refer to: Organizations * Bryant Bank, a bank in Alabama, United States * Bryant Electric Company, an American manufacturer of electrical components * Bryant Homes, a British house builder, part of Taylor Woodrow * Bryant University ...

neighborhoods of

Minneapolis Minneapolis () is the largest city in Minnesota, United States, and the county seat of Hennepin County. The city is abundant in water, with list of lakes in Minneapolis, thirteen lakes, wetlands, the Mississippi River, creeks and waterfalls. ...

. She was the first Native American woman to serve 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 ...

and the first openly lesbian Native American to win election to a

state legislature A state legislature is a legislative branch or body of a political subdivision in a federal system. Two federations literally use the term "state legislature": * The legislative branches of each of the fifty state governments of the United Sta ...

. She did not seek re-election in 2018.

Early life, education, and career

The daughter of an Episcopal priest, Allen graduated from

Augsburg College Augsburg University is a private university in Minneapolis, Minnesota. It is affiliated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. It was founded in 1869 as a Norwegian-American Lutheran seminary known as Augsburg Seminarium. Today, the ...

in Minneapolis in 1992. She later earned a J.D. from the University of New Mexico Law School (1995) and an

LL.M. A Master of Laws (M.L. or LL.M.; Latin: ' or ') is an advanced postgraduate academic degree, pursued by those either holding an undergraduate academic law degree, a professional law degree, or an undergraduate degree in a related subject. In mos ...

from William Mitchell College of Law in St. Paul (1999). She became a practicing attorney in 1997 and a partner of her law firm in 2004.

Minnesota House of Representatives

Allen was one of four openly gay members, alongside Representatives Karen Clark and

Erin Maye Quade Erin Maye Quade (born March 12, 1986) is an American politician from the state of Minnesota. A member of the Democratic–Farmer–Labor (DFL) Party, she served in the Minnesota House of Representatives from 2017 to 2019. She was the DFL-endorse ...

and Senator Scott Dibble, in the

Elections

When state representative Jeff Hayden was elected to the

Minnesota Senate The Minnesota Senate is the upper house of the 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 U.S. state legislature. Floor sessions are h ...

in October 2011, he vacated his seat in the House of Representatives. Allen was one of four DFLers to put themselves forward for the seat and, at the DFL nominating convention held on November 12, she received the party's endorsement on the third ballot. She nevertheless faced a primary election on December 6, facing three opponents, two of whom had suspended their campaigns after losing at the convention. Allen won the nomination handily, taking over 82% of the vote in the primary. In the general election held on January 10, 2012, she faced only one opponent, who ran under the "Respect" label, beating him 56–43%. She was re-elected in the 2012, 2014 and 2016 general elections. She did not seek re-election in 2018.

Personal life

As an attorney, Allen specializes in serving Indian tribes, helping them draft tribal laws in a wide range of areas. She is Lakota and a member of the Rosebud Sioux Tribe. She identifies as

two-spirit Two-spirit (also two spirit, 2S or, occasionally, twospirited) is a modern, , umbrella term used by some Indigenous North Americans to describe Native people in their communities who fulfill a traditional third-gender (or other gender-varian ...

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Allen, Susan 1963 births 20th-century American Episcopalians 20th-century Native Americans 21st-century American Episcopalians 21st-century American lawyers 21st-century American politicians 21st-century Native Americans 21st-century American women politicians Augsburg University alumni Living people Lakota people Lawyers from Minneapolis Lesbian politicians LGBT Anglicans LGBT lawyers LGBT Native Americans LGBT people from Utah LGBT state legislators in Minnesota Democratic Party members of the Minnesota House of Representatives Native American Episcopalians Native American lawyers Native American state legislators in Minnesota Native American women in politics Politicians from Minneapolis University of New Mexico School of Law alumni William Mitchell College of Law alumni Women state legislators in Minnesota 21st-century American women lawyers 20th-century Native American women 21st-century Native American women Two-spirit people Rosebud Sioux people