Ellen Anderson is a Minnesota

Minnesota

Minnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...

 politician and a former member of the Minnesota Senate

Minnesota Senate

The Minnesota Senate is the upper house in the Minnesota Legislature. There are 67 members, half as many as are in the Minnesota House of Representatives. In terms of membership, it is the largest upper house of any state legislature. Each Senate district in the state includes an A and B House...

 who represented District 66, which includes the northern portion of the city of Saint Paul

Saint Paul, Minnesota

Saint Paul is the capital and second-most populous city of the U.S. state of Minnesota. The city lies mostly on the east bank of the Mississippi River in the area surrounding its point of confluence with the Minnesota River, and adjoins Minneapolis, the state's largest city...

, as well as the entire city of Falcon Heights

Falcon Heights, Minnesota

As of the census of 2000, there were 5,572 people, 2,103 households, and 1,434 families residing in the city. The population density was 2,487.9 people per square mile . There were 2,136 housing units at an average density of 953.7 per square mile...

 in Ramsey County

Ramsey County, Minnesota

Ramsey County is a county located in the U.S. state of Minnesota, founded in 1849. As of 2010, the population was 508,640. Its county seat is St. Paul, which is also Minnesota's state capital. The county is named for Alexander Ramsey , the first governor of the Minnesota Territory...

, which is in the Twin Cities

Twin cities

Twin cities are a special case of two cities or urban centres which are founded in close geographic proximity and then grow into each other over time...

 metropolitan area. A Democrat

Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party

The Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party is a major political party in the state of Minnesota and the state affiliate of the Democratic Party. It was created on April 15, 1944, with the merger of the Minnesota Democratic Party and the Farmer–Labor Party...

, she was first elected in 1992, and was re-elected in 1996, 2000, 2002, 2006 and 2010. On March 9, 2011, Minnesota Governor Mark Dayton

Mark Dayton

Mark Brandt Dayton is an American politician, the 40th and current Governor of the state of Minnesota. Dayton previously served as United States Senator from Minnesota from 2001 to 2007 in the 107th, 108th, and 109th Congresses...

 announced her appointment as chair of the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission

Minnesota Public Utilities Commission

The Minnesota Public Utilities Commission is the consumer protection agency in the U.S. state of Minnesota charged with the regulation of public utilities such as electric and telephone service. Its commissioners are appointed by the governor....

. She resigned her Senate seat effective March 20, 2011. A special election will be held on April 12, 2011, to fill the vacancy.

Anderson was a member of the Senate's Energy, Utilities and Telecommunications, Finance, Higher Education, and Local Government and Elections committees. In December 2008, she was appointed by Senate Majority Leader

Majority leader

In U.S. politics, the majority floor leader is a partisan position in a legislative body.In the federal Congress, the role differs slightly in the two houses. In the House of Representatives, which chooses its own presiding officer, the leader of the majority party is elected the Speaker of the...

 Larry Pogemiller to the Minnesota Lessard Outdoor Heritage Council.

In 1995, Anderson married Andy Dawkins

Andy Dawkins

Andy Dawkins is a Minnesota politician and a former member of the Minnesota House of Representatives from Saint Paul. A Democrat, Dawkins was first elected in 1986 to represent District 65A, and was re-elected every two years until he opted not to seek re-election in 2002. In 1993, he ran an...

, who served as a state representative

Minnesota House of Representatives

The Minnesota House of Representatives is the lower house in the Minnesota State Legislature. There are 134 members elected to two-year terms, twice the number of members in the Minnesota Senate. Each senate district is divided in half and given the suffix A or B...

 from Saint Paul from 1987 to 2003.

External links

• Senator Anderson Web Page
• Senator Ellen Anderson Campaign Web Site
• Minnesota Public Radio - Votetracker: Ellen Anderson Voting Record
• Project Vote Smart - Senator Ellen Anderson Profile
• Follow the Money - Ellen Anderson Campaign Contributions
• 2008
• 2006 2004 2002 2000 1996