Torrey Westrom (born March 27, 1973) is an American businessman and politician and member 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 ...

. A Republican, he represents District 12, which includes all or parts of Big Stone,

Douglas Douglas may refer to: People * Douglas (given name) * Douglas (surname) Animals * Douglas (parrot), macaw that starred as the parrot ''Rosalinda'' in Pippi Longstocking * Douglas the camel, a camel in the Confederate Army in the American Civil ...

, Grant,

Pope The pope is the bishop of Rome and the Head of the Church#Catholic Church, visible head of the worldwide Catholic Church. He is also known as the supreme pontiff, Roman pontiff, or sovereign pontiff. From the 8th century until 1870, the po ...

, Stearns, Stevens,

Traverse Traverse may refer to: Places * Traverse, Michigan, an unincorporated community * Traverse City, Michigan * Traverse County, Minnesota, a county in Minnesota Other * Traverse (climbing), moving horizontally on a climbing or mountaineering route ...

and Wilkin Counties. He is the first known blind person to be elected to 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 ...

Political career

Westrom has served on several legislative commissions, including the Rural Health Care Advisory Task Force, the Secretary of State's voting equipment task force, and the Minnesota Legislative Audit Commission. In 2002, President George W. Bush appointed him to a four-year term on a federal advisory panel called the Ticket to Work. The panel advised

Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ...

and the

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest (Washington, D.C.), NW in Washington, D.C., it has served as the residence of every U.S. president ...

on return-to-work programs for people with

disabilities Disability is the experience of any condition that makes it more difficult for a person to do certain activities or have equitable access within a given society. Disabilities may be cognitive, developmental, intellectual, mental, physica ...

Minnesota House of Representatives

Westrom is a former 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 ...

representing District 11A. He was first elected in 1996 and was reelected every two years until he ran for the Minnesota Senate. Before the 2002 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 ...

, he represented the old District 13A. On May 17, 2011 he was called upon to act as Speaker Pro Tempore, making him the first known blind person to oversee a state legislative debate in the United States.

Minnesota Senate

Westrom was elected to the Minnesota Senate in 2012. As a senator, he has promoted affordable, reliable energy for Minnesota and supported investments in clean energy, such as research into "green ammonia" at the University of Minnesota-Morris and other carbon-free gas energy solutions.

Run for Congress

In December 2013, less than a year into his Senate term, Westrom announced that he would challenge incumbent

Collin Peterson Collin Clark Peterson (born June 29, 1944) is an American accountant, politician, and lobbyist who served as the United States House of Representatives, U.S. representative for from 1991 to 2021. A member of the Minnesota Democratic–Farmer– ...

Minnesota's 7th congressional district Minnesota's 7th congressional district covers the majority of western Minnesota. It is by far the state's largest district, and has a very rural character. Except for a few southern counties in the Minnesota's 1st congressional district, 1st ...

in 2014. He kicked off his campaign with events in Elbow Lake and Moorhead. He raised over $84,000 in the first month of his campaign. In the November general election, he won 46% of the vote, the highest Republican tally against Peterson since 1990.

Personal life

Westrom graduated from Bemidji State University in 1995 with a B.A. in political science and business administration and from

Mitchell Hamline School of Law Mitchell Hamline School of Law is a Private university, private law school in Saint Paul, Minnesota. It is Higher education accreditation in the United States, accredited by the American Bar Association (ABA) and offers full and part-time legal ...

in 2003 with a J.D. Westrom and his wife own TSI Real Estate, based in Elbow Lake, with properties in Hutchinson,

Saint Paul Paul, also named Saul of Tarsus, commonly known as Paul the Apostle and Saint Paul, was a Christian apostle ( AD) who spread the teachings of Jesus in the first-century world. For his contributions towards the New Testament, he is generally ...

, Madelia, and elsewhere.

References

External links

Senator Torrey Westrom
''official Minnesota Senate website''
Minnesota Public Radio Vote Tracker: Rep. Westrom

Torrey Westrom
''official campaign website'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Westrom, Torrey 1973 births Living people 20th-century evangelicals 21st-century evangelicals American blind people American evangelicals American lawyers with disabilities American politicians with disabilities Blind lawyers Blind politicians Candidates in the 2014 United States elections Minnesota lawyers People from Elbow Lake, Minnesota People from Golden Valley, Minnesota Republican Party Minnesota state senators William Mitchell College of Law alumni 21st-century members of the Minnesota Legislature 20th-century members of the Minnesota Legislature