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Erin Koegel

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Erin Koegel
Member of the Minnesota House of Representatives
from the 39A district
Incumbent
Assumed office
January 3, 2017
Preceded byJerry Newton
Personal details
Born (1982-04-06) April 6, 1982 (age 42)
Duluth, Minnesota
Political partyDemocratic (DFL)
SpouseSteve
Children1
ResidenceSpring Lake Park, Minnesota
EducationUniversity of Minnesota Duluth (B.A.)
Occupation
WebsiteGovernment website Campaign website

Erin Koegel (born April 6, 1982) is an American politician serving in the Minnesota House of Representatives since 2017. A member of the Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party (DFL), Koegel represents District 39A in the northern Twin Cities metropolitan area, which includes the city of Fridley and parts of Anoka and Ramsey Counties.[1][2]

Early life, education, and career

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Koegel was born in Duluth, Minnesota, and grew up in Maple Grove, Minnesota.[3] She graduated from Osseo High School in 2000. Koegel attended the University of Minnesota Duluth, graduating with a Bachelor of Applied Science in psychology and a minor in political science, and later with a master's degree in advocacy and political leadership.

Koegel completed an internship with the Duluth City Council and worked as a page at the Minnesota House of Representatives. She works as a volunteer coordinator at Community Action Partnership of Ramsey County, and previously was executive director of the nonprofit Health Care for All.[1][3]

Minnesota House of Representatives

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Koegel was elected to the Minnesota House of Representatives in 2016 and has been reelected every two years since. She first ran after three-term DFL incumbent Jerry Newton announced he would run for a seat in the Minnesota State Senate.[1]

Koegel chairs the Sustainable Infrastructure Policy Committee and sits on the Commerce Finance and Policy and Transportation Finance and Policy Committees. From 2021 to 2022, she served as vice chair of the Transportation Finance and Policy Committee.[1]

Health care and child care

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Koegel supports extending the eligibility of MinnesotaCare, a public health care program for low-income families. She also supports increasing investments in child care, preschool, and financial assistance for those attending college.[3] Koegel has spoken publicly about the difficulties of being a parent to a newborn child while in the legislature, including the lack of maternity or parental leave.[4][5][6]

She authored legislation to increase consumer protections and place limits on settlement-payment deals, requiring judges to scrutinize the payments.[7][8] Koegel was part of an advisory council looking at how to spend funding through Minnesota's opioid epidemic response law.[9]

Transportation

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Koegel supported legislation to increase the state's gas tax to keep up with inflation and increase dedicated funding for roads and bridges.[10] She has also supported other tax increases to fund transportation needs, including a 75-cent fee on home deliveries as an alternative to the gas tax.[11][12][13]

She sponsored bipartisan legislation to create speciality license plates commemorating the Minnesota Vikings football team, and a bill that would allow teen drivers to take driver's ed courses online.[14][15] She authored legislation that would restrict wake boats within 200 feet of shore, and prohibit them in small lakes and waterways.[16]

Electoral history

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2016 Minnesota State House - District 37A[17]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic (DFL) Erin Koegel 9,485 47.17
Republican Anthony Wilder 8,946 44.49
Libertarian Brian McCormick 1,647 8.19
Write-in 31 0.15
Total votes 20,469 100.0
Democratic (DFL) hold
2018 Minnesota State House - District 37A[18]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic (DFL) Erin Koegel (incumbent) 9,816 56.01
Republican Anthony Wilder 7,676 43.80
Write-in 35 0.20
Total votes 17,527 100.0
Democratic (DFL) hold
2020 Minnesota State House - District 37A[19]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic (DFL) Erin Koegel (incumbent) 12,389 55.10
Republican Ken Wendling 10,070 44.78
Write-in 27 0.20
Total votes 22,486 100.0
Democratic (DFL) hold
2022 Minnesota State House - District 39A[20]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic (DFL) Erin Koegel (incumbent) 9,091 63.30
Republican Rod Sylvester 5,262 36.64
Write-in 9 0.06
Total votes 14,362 100.0
Democratic (DFL) hold

Personal life

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Koegel is married to her spouse, Steve, and resides in Spring Lake Park, Minnesota.[1] Her daughter was born in 2018.[5]

On August 22, 2021, Koegel accidentally severed her middle, ring, and little fingers on her left hand in a power saw accident. She was airlifted to the North Memorial Health Hospital in Robbinsdale, where she underwent emergency surgery. Surgeons were able to reattach her middle finger, but her ring and pinky fingers were lost.[21][22] A GoFundMe page set up to support Koegel's recovery surpassed its goal of $5,000, but attracted the notice of officials when it appeared that many contributions came from lobbyists. Minnesota state law prohibits gifts from lobbyists to lawmakers worth more than $5. The GoFundMe page announced that gifts from lobbyists would be returned immediately.[23]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e "Koegel, Erin". Minnesota Legislative Reference Library. Retrieved January 10, 2017.
  2. ^ "Rep. Erin Koegel (39A) - Minnesota House of Representatives". www.house.mn.gov. Retrieved 2023-04-18.
  3. ^ a b c Star Tribune Editorial Board (November 2, 2016). "EDITORIAL | Editorial Board endorsements: Koegel, Pryor and Barr for Minnesota House". Star Tribune. Retrieved 2023-04-18.
  4. ^ Yuen, Laura (May 7, 2022). "This Mother's Day, envision a Legislature that welcomed more moms to public service". Star Tribune. Retrieved 2023-04-18.
  5. ^ a b Bierschbach, Briana (January 29, 2019). "Legislators balance lawmaking with child raising". MPR News. Retrieved 2023-04-18.
  6. ^ Stroozas, Sam (May 8, 2022). "Archaic rules make motherhood a challenge for women in Minnesota politics". MPR News. Retrieved 2023-04-18.
  7. ^ Meitrodt, Jeffrey (March 1, 2022). "Minnesota lawmakers divide over limits on settlement-payment deals". Star Tribune. Retrieved 2023-04-18.
  8. ^ Meitrodt, Jeffrey (May 11, 2022). "Minnesota Senate gives judges more power over settlement-payment deals, sends bill to Walz". Star Tribune. Retrieved 2023-04-18.
  9. ^ Van Oot, Torey (July 4, 2020). "'Left with nothing': Funding shortfall cancels Minnesota's opioid response grants". Star Tribune. Retrieved 2023-04-18.
  10. ^ Van Berkel, Jessie (April 10, 2021). "Minnesota House DFL proposes gas tax increase". Star Tribune. Retrieved 2023-04-18.
  11. ^ Ferguson, Dana (April 3, 2023). "Details on Minnesota tax relief to become clearer next week". MPR News. Retrieved 2023-04-18.
  12. ^ Callaghan, Peter (2023-04-13). "Proposed Amazon delivery fee for Minnesota transportation appears dead". MinnPost. Retrieved 2023-04-18.
  13. ^ Callaghan, Peter (2023-03-27). "Bill would add fees to Ubers, Amazon deliveries to fund Minnesota roads". MinnPost. Retrieved 2023-04-18.
  14. ^ Montemayor, Stephen (February 2, 2022). "Fans could get Minnesota Vikings specialty license plates under bipartisan bill". Star Tribune. Retrieved 2023-04-18.
  15. ^ Harlow, Tim (February 12, 2021). "Bill would let Minnesota teens take driver's ed online — without instructor". Star Tribune. Retrieved 2023-04-18.
  16. ^ Mankato Free Press (2021-10-04). "Wake boats need state Legislature's attention". MinnPost. Retrieved 2023-04-18.
  17. ^ "2016 Results for State Representative District 37A". Minnesota Secretary of State. Retrieved February 22, 2023.
  18. ^ "2018 Results for State Representative District 37A". Minnesota Secretary of State. Retrieved February 22, 2023.
  19. ^ "2020 Results for State Representative District 37A". Minnesota Secretary of State. Retrieved February 22, 2023.
  20. ^ "2022 Results for State Representative District 39A". Minnesota Secretary of State. Retrieved February 22, 2023.
  21. ^ Staff. "Minnesota State Rep. Cuts Off 3 Fingers In Power Saw Accident". www.valleynewslive.com. Retrieved 2021-08-31.
  22. ^ "State representative cuts off 3 fingers in power saw accident". KSTP. 2021-08-30. Retrieved 2021-08-31.
  23. ^ "Some donations to help injured lawmaker may be returned". September 2021.
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