Tracy L. Beckman (born January 7, 1945) 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 ...

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 ...

and is a former 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 ...

from southern Minnesota. First elected in 1986 in the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party's "firestorm" that swept through the region, giving Democrats unprecedented control of southwestern Minnesota for the next several election cycles, Beckman served four terms. He was re-elected in 1990, 1992 and 1996. He represented the old District 29 and, later, District 26, which included all or portions of Blue Earth, 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 ...

Martin Martin may refer to: Places Antarctica * Martin Peninsula, Marie Byrd Land * Port Martin, Adelie Land * Point Martin, South Orkney Islands Europe * Martin, Croatia, a village * Martin, Slovakia, a city * Martín del Río, Aragón, Spain * M ...

, Waseca and Watonwan counties, changing somewhat through

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 ...

in 1990. From the small town of Bricelyn, Beckman, a corn processing plant manager, consultant, hardware store owner and former teacher, earned a reputation as a strong advocate for agricultural issues, processing of agricultural products, small business development, rural economic development, job creation, education, crime prevention and health care during his time in office. He is a graduate of Mankato State University and

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

. While in the legislature, Beckman was a member of the Senate Agriculture, Crime Prevention, Economic Development and Housing, Education, Employment, Energy and Community Development, Finance, Government Operations and Reform, Jobs, and

Veterans A veteran () is a person who has significant experience (and is usually adept and esteemed) and expertise in an job, occupation or Craft, field. A military veteran is a person who is no longer serving in the military, armed forces. A topic o ...

committees, and of various sub-committees relevant to each area. Beckman ran for

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 ...

against incumbent

Gil Gutknecht Gilbert William Gutknecht Jr. (, born March 20, 1951) is an American former politician. Gutknecht was a Republican member of the United States House of Representatives first elected in 1994 to represent Minnesota's 1st congressional district. ...

in 1998 in Minnesota's old 1st Congressional District. Prior to the current re-districting, the district encompassed most of southeastern Minnesota and was a heavily Republican area. Beckman received 45% of the vote to Gutknecht's 55% in the November general election. In February 1999, Beckman resigned his Senate seat after he was appointed Minnesota State Director of the

Farm Service Agency The Farm Service Agency (FSA) is the United States Department of Agriculture agency that was formed by merging the farm loan portfolio and staff of the Farmers Home Administration (FmHA) and the Agricultural Stabilization and Conservation Service ...

, a division of the

U.S. Department of Agriculture The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is an executive department of the United States federal government that aims to meet the needs of commercial farming and livestock food production, promotes agricultural trade and production ...

References

External links

1945 births Living people Democratic Party Minnesota state senators People from Faribault County, Minnesota Lutherans from Minnesota Harvard University alumni Minnesota State University, Mankato alumni 20th-century members of the Minnesota Legislature {{Minnesota-MNSenate-stub