Tina Liebling (born 1953) is a

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 ...

attorney and

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

who is 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 ...

. A member of the

Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party The Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party (DFL) is a political party in the U.S. state of Minnesota affiliated with the national Democratic Party. The party was formed by a merger between the Minnesota Democratic Party and the Minneso ...

(DFL), she represents District 24B, which consists almost entirely of the city of Rochester in Olmsted County, in southeastern

. She was a candidate for the Governor of Minnesota in 2018, but withdrew from the race in mid-March.

Early life and education

Liebling was born and raised in

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, the daughter of noted photographer Jerome Liebling. After her family moved away from the area, she returned to attend the

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, earning a B.A. in

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and graduating

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. She went on to attend the

University of Massachusetts-Amherst A university () is an institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degree An academic degree is a qualification awarded to a student upon successful completion of a course of study in higher education, usually at a co ...

, receiving an

M.S. A Master of Science (; abbreviated MS, M.S., MSc, M.Sc., SM, S.M., ScM or Sc.M.) is a master's degree. In contrast to the Master of Arts degree, the Master of Science degree is typically granted for studies in sciences, engineering and medicine ...

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, then went to

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, graduating

cum laude Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some Sout ...

with a J.D.

Political career

Liebling's political career began in 2002, when she first ran for the District 30A seat, finishing second behind former state representative Carla Nelson in a three-way race. She ran again in 2004, defeating Nelson with 50.75% of the vote. She and Andy Welti, a former DFL representative from neighboring District 30B, were part of large DFL gains in the Minnesota House in 2004. The two were the first Democrats to represent the Rochester area, a traditionally Republican stronghold, in many years. She was sworn in on January 4, 2005. Liebling was re-elected in 2006 with 52.76% of the vote, again defeating Carla Nelson. In the 2008 election, she faced Rochester businessman Jacob Dettinger, defeating him with 61.81% of the vote. In the 2010 election, she defeated Charlie O'Connell, garnering 55.15% of the vote to O'Connell's 44.73%. In 2012, running in a slightly altered district due to redistricting, she defeated Breanna Bly, a Rochester School Board member, 58.8% to 41.0%. She again defeated Breanna Bly in the 2014 election, winning 55.2% to 44.7%. In 2016, she defeated political novice Will Waggoner 59.9% to 40.0%. In 2018, she had her largest percentage of votes ever, winning over former Olmsted County Commissioner Paul Wilson 63.2% to 36.6%. She served as an assistant majority leader during the 2007-08 session, but declined to serve again in that position for the 2009-10 biennium. She became the DFL lead on the Health and Human Services (HHS) Reform Committee for the 2011-12 biennium and also served on the Health and Human Service Finance and Judiciary Policy and Finance Committees. When the DFL retook the majority after the 2012 election, she became chair of the Health and Human Services Policy Committee for the 2013-14 biennium. She also served on the Health and Human Services Finance Committee, the Civil Law Committee, and the Taxes Committee. When the Republicans became the majority after the 2014 election, she was the DFL health care lead on the HHS Finance Committee 2015-2017, also serving on the HHS Reform and the Ways and Means Committees, and the DFL lead on the HHS Reform Committee 2017-2018, also serving on the HHS Finance and Ways and Means Committees. Since the DFL took control of the Minnesota House in 2019, she is chair of the Health and Human Services Finance Division, which controls a third of the state’s budget. She also serves on the HHS Policy Committee and the Judiciary Finance and Civil Law Division (A Finance Division or Division is the Minnesota equivalent of an Appropriations Subcommittee in Congress and the Ways and Means Committee is the equivalent of the Appropriations Committee.) Liebling supported Senator

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during the 2016 Democratic presidential primaries, breaking with state party leadership. She supported Elizabeth Warren in the 2020 primaries while Warren was running.

Candidate for Governor 2018

On April 2, 2017 Liebling announced her candidacy for Governor of Minnesota, since Governor Mark Dayton was not seeking re-election. She finished fifth in the Minnesota DFL gubernatorial preference poll in February 2018 with about 6% of the vote statewide and dropped out of the race the next month.

Personal life

She married her husband, Dr. Mark Liebow, shortly after law school, and moved to the

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area, where her three children were born. In 1994, she moved to Rochester, where her husband was hired as a consultant for the

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, and she began a solo law practice focused on

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Election history

References

External links

Rep. Tina Liebling
''official Minnesota House of Representatives website''
Rep. Tina Liebling
''official campaign website''
Minnesota Public Radio Votetracker: Rep. Tina Liebling

Project Votesmart: Rep. Tina Liebling Profile

Tina Liebling
on

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Tina Liebling
on

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Liebling, Tina 1953 births Living people Politicians from Minneapolis Democratic Party members of the Minnesota House of Representatives Politicians from Rochester, Minnesota University of Minnesota College of Liberal Arts alumni Boston University School of Law alumni Women state legislators in Minnesota American women lawyers 21st-century American women politicians University of Massachusetts Amherst School of Public Health and Health Sciences alumni 21st-century members of the Minnesota Legislature