Erik Paulsen (politician)

Erik Paulsen

Erik Paulsen (* 14. May 1965 in Bakersfield , California ) is an American politician of the Republican Party . From 2009 to 2019 he represented Minnesota's 3rd Congressional Constituency in the United States House of Representatives .

Family, education and work

Erik Paulsen was born in California but grew up in Minneapolis, Minnesota. There he attended public schools including Chaska High School , which he graduated from in 1983. He studied mathematics at St. Olaf College in Northfield , graduating there in 1987. He then worked as a businessman, including as a marketeer at CVN and as an analyst at Target Corporation .

Paulsen lives in Eden Prairie , Minnesota. He has four children with his wife Kelly. He's a Lutheran .

Political career

Paulsen worked in 1987 on the election campaign staff of US Senator Rudy Boschwitz and then for Congressman Jim Ramstad . Between 1995 and 2008 he was a member of the House of Representatives for Minnesota , where he headed the Republican parliamentary group from 2002 to 2006 as the majority leader . He was also a member of several committees. In 2008 he was a speaker at the Republican National Convention in Saint Paul , where Senator John McCain was nominated as a presidential candidate.

In the 2008 election , Paulsen was elected to the US House of Representatives in Washington, DC, in Minnesota's 3rd Congressional District. There he succeeded Jim Ramstad on January 3, 2009, who had significantly supported his candidacy. Paulsen was intermittently a member of the Financial Services Committee and three sub-committees. He later became a member of the Committee on Ways and Means . He voted against health care reform by President Barack Obama ( Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act ) and also rejected other legislative proposals led by the Democrats Federal Government from.

Paulsen was re-elected four times. In the mid-term election in Donald Trump's presidency in November 2018, Paulsen lost to Democrat Dean Phillips . The election campaign was the costliest for a congressional mandate in Minnesota and had the controversial president on the topic, who was defeated in the constituency in the 2016 presidential election by almost ten percentage points. For the first time in 60 years, the Republicans lost this mandate, which represents the western suburbs of the Twin City and thus many wealthy, well-educated voters, who under Trump switched from the Republicans to the Democrats. After Paulsen tried to distance himself from Trump, shortly before the election, Trump sent a statement of support via Twitter , which according to journalist Tim Alberta was done deliberately to harm Paulsen. Paulsen's mandate ended on January 3, 2019.

Web links

• Erik Paulsen (politicians) in the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress (English)
• Erik Paulsen's Biography. In: Vote Smart (English)
• Paulsen, Erik. In: Our Campaigns (English)

supporting documents

1. ↑ Erik Paulsen's Biography. In: Vote Smart.
2. ^ Kelly Smith, Eric Roper: Dean Phillips defeats Rep. Erik Paulsen for Third District seat, which was Minnesota's most expensive house race. In: The Star Tribune , November 7, 2018.
3. ↑ Nathan L. Gonzalez: Trump Admits He Was a Liability in 2018. In: Inside Elections , July 24, 2019.