Minnesota State Senator Karin Housley is a Republican serving Senate District 39, encompassing Forest Lake, Stillwater, and the St. Croix Valley, along the Minnesota-Wisconsin border. She was first elected in 2012 and is currently serving her second term after being reelected in 2016.

She serves as an assistant majority leader, chair of the Senate Family Care and Aging Committee, vice chair of the Commerce and Consumer Protection Committee, and is on the Veterans and Military Affairs Committee, and the Jobs and Economic Growth Committee.

Housley’s campaign website lists that during her tenure she has authored 253 bills, 67 percent of those with bipartisan support.

Notably, Housley is third among top-earners in Minnesota politics, just behind Governor Tim Walz and Attorney General Keith Ellison.

Housley’s contributions for the 2020 election cycle so far total $83,450 with an average contribution of $500. Her top two supporters, with donations of $2,000 each, are Joan and Robert Cummins, and Stanley Hubbard. The Cummins and Hubbard are both donors to various other Republican candidates and causes around the state.

Housley is a Minnesota native, born and raised in St. Paul. She briefly attended college in Minneapolis before joining her high school sweetheart in New York as he launched into his professional hockey career with the Buffalo Sabres. Housley finished her degree at State University of New York at Buffalo and graduated with a degree in communications.

In addition to serving in the state senate, Housley is a licensed realtor—together with her daughter, she owns Housley Homes at Keller Williams in Stillwater. She also authored a book in 2001 geared at teaching women how to invest in the stock market.

Housley’s top issues are protecting the state’s senior citizens, increasing public employee pensions and school funding, and cutting taxes.

Our new Spotlight series highlights individual candidates, donors and PACs in state-level politics. See more about Senator Housley and the money in Minnesota politics on our Minnesota state page: www.transparencyusa.org/mn. To get relevant data delivered straight to your inbox, subscribe to the states you are interested in.