Michelle Fischbach speaks on fallen Minnesotan Guardsmen Recorded December 12, 2022
Michelle Louise Helene Fischbach (/ˈfɪʃbɑːk/FISH-bahk; néeSt. Martin; born November 3, 1965) is an American attorney and politician who is the U.S. representative from Minnesota's 7th congressional district. The district, which is very rural, is Minnesota's largest by area and includes most of the western part of the state. A Republican, Fischbach served as the 49th lieutenant governor of Minnesota from 2018 until 2019. As of 2024, she is the last Republican to have held statewide office in Minnesota.[b]
She first got involved in politics as an intern to Rudy Boschwitz, then a U.S. senator for Minnesota.[8]
In 1994, Fischbach became the first woman elected to the Paynesville City Council, where she served until she was elected to the Minnesota Senate in 1996.[9]
Minnesota Senate
Fischbach was elected to the Minnesota Senate in 1996 in a special election held after the resignation of DFL Senator Joe Bertram, who had recently pleaded guilty to shoplifting.[6] Fischbach was reelected months later in the 1996 general election, and in 2000, 2002, 2006, 2010, 2012, and 2016.[10] She served as an assistant minority leader from 2001 to 2002 and from 2007 to 2008, and as a deputy minority leader from 2009 to 2010.[11] Fischbach also served as the chair of the Senate's higher education committee.[11]
In 2011, after an election in which Senate Republicans won a majority for the first time since party designation, Fischbach's colleagues elected her the first female president of the Minnesota Senate, a post she held until Republicans lost their majority in 2013.[12] After Republicans regained a majority following the 2016 election, Fischbach was again elected Senate president on January 3, 2017.[13]
Lieutenant governor of Minnesota
Succession
On December 13, 2017, Governor Mark Dayton appointed his lieutenant governor, Tina Smith, to the U.S. Senate seat vacated by Al Franken, who resigned over allegations of sexual misconduct. Smith resigned to accept the appointment on January 2, 2018. Per Article V of the Minnesota Constitution, as president of the State Senate, Fischbach automatically ascended as lieutenant governor.[14][c]
Constitutional dispute
Official portrait of Lt. Gov. Fischbach in 2018
Fischbach acknowledged that she was now lieutenant governor, but maintained she would retain her Senate seat, calling herself "acting lieutenant governor."[16] The constitutionality of holding two offices at once was disputed.[17][18] Fischbach noted a memo from the Senate's nonpartisan counsel, which cited an 1898 decision by the Minnesota Supreme Court as legal precedent for her to hold both offices.[19] She also said the lieutenant governor's duties are largely ceremonial and she would have no difficulty holding both offices.[20] She declined the lieutenant governor's salary, opting to receive only the pay of a state senator.[21] An advisory opinion from state attorney generalLori Swanson disputed the legality of Fischbach's holding both offices at once, citing a constitutional amendment passed in 1972, and other historical precedents.[22][23][d]
The potential outcomes were seen as having potentially significant ramifications on Minnesota politics, as Republicans held only a two-vote majority in the state Senate.[25] In December 2017, to avoid a potential tie should Fischbach resign her Senate seat, Senate Majority LeaderPaul Gazelka and House SpeakerKurt Daudt sent Dayton a letter requesting a special legislative session to temporarily elect a Democratic president of the Senate.[25][26] Dayton and legislative Democrats immediately rejected the idea, with Senate Minority LeaderTom Bakk indicating he would file a lawsuit to attempt to force Fischbach out of the Senate should she attempt to serve in both offices, saying the senate's "balance of power [...] will be up for grabs."[27][28]
In January 2018, a constituent and local DFL activist filed suit against Fischbach, asking a Ramsey CountyDistrict Court judge to remove her from the state Senate.[29] In February 2018, a judge dismissed the suit, ruling it had been prematurely filed.[30]
On May 25, 2018, Fischbach resigned from the Senate and was sworn in as lieutenant governor.[31]
Campaign
In May 2018, former RepublicanGovernorTim Pawlenty announced Fischbach as his running mate in his bid for a third term.[32] Pawlenty and Fischbach were defeated in the Republican primary by Jeff Johnson and Donna Bergstrom.[33]
Fischbach was succeeded as lieutenant governor by Democratic State Representative Peggy Flanagan, who ran on a ticket with Tim Walz. Fischbach left office on January 7, 2019, after Walz and Flanagan were sworn in.[34]
On September 3, 2019, Fischbach announced her candidacy for the Republican nomination to challenge 30-year incumbent Democrat Collin Peterson in Minnesota's 7th congressional district.[35] She won the five-way Republican primary election.[36] Despite Peterson's incumbency, the 7th had been trending Republican for some time. The Republican presidential nominee had carried the district by double-digit margins in three of the last five elections. This included 2016, when Donald Trump carried it with 62 percent of the vote, his best showing in Minnesota and one of Trump's best performances in a district held by a Democrat.
During her campaign, Fischbach pledged to back Trump on trade, make the 2017 tax cuts permanent, and support workforce education and additional relief for rural and agricultural businesses affected by COVID-19.[37][38] Her campaign emphasized her support for farmers and the Second Amendment, opposition to abortion, and support for strengthening the U.S. border.[39][40]
Fischbach defeated Peterson by 49,226 votes, the largest margin of any Republican who defeated an incumbent Democrat in 2020.[41] In that same election, Trump carried the 7th with 64 percent of the vote, his best showing in the state.[42] She and Mariannette Miller-Meeks of Iowa are the only Republican members of Congress to flip Democratic House districts that were not held by Republicans before 2018.
In September 2021, Fischbach was among 75 House Republicans to vote against the National Defense Authorization Act of 2022, which contains a provision that would require women to register for the Selective Service in the event of a military draft.[49][50]
On November 8, 2023, Fischbach joined 100 other Republicans voting in favor of an amendment to a large appropriations bill that would prohibit funding for the Office of Vice President Kamala Harris.[54][55]
Personal life
Fischbach is Roman Catholic.[11] She met her husband, Scott, while working on a campaign for former U.S. SenatorRudy Boschwitz. They started dating while she was attending St. Cloud State University and eventually moved to nearby Paynesville.[20] When Fischbach ran for Congress she still lived in Paynesville, in the far southern corner of the congressional district. She and her family have since moved to Regal, near Willmar. They have two children and several grandchildren.[56][57]
^Tim Pawlenty is the last Republican to have been elected to statewide office in the state, winning in 2006.
^The Minnesota Constitution provides "The last elected presiding officer of the senate shall become lieutenant governor in case a vacancy occurs in that office."[15]
^The Minnesota Constitution specifies "No senator or representative shall hold any other office under the authority of the United States or the state of Minnesota, except that of postmaster or of notary public."[24]
References
^"About". Congresswoman Michelle Fischbach. Retrieved March 23, 2022.
^Pugmire, Tim (November 10, 2016). "Gazelka picked as new GOP state Senate leader". Minnesota Public Radio News. St. Paul, Minnesota. Senate Republicans also announced the selection of Sen. Michelle Fischbach, R-Paynesville, as Senate president.
^Bakst, Brian; Pugmire, Tim (December 13, 2017). "Smith to take Franken's Senate seat, run in 2018". Minnesota Public Radio. Minnesota's succession plan calls for the state Senate president to become Lieutenant Governor, so as Smith moves to the U.S. Senate, state Sen. Michelle Fischbach, R-Paynesville, will move into Smith's position.
