The Biography of Senator Ellen Anderson
Senator Ellen Anderson was elected to the Minnesota Senate in 1992 and re-elected in 1996, 2000, 2002 and 2006 as a member of the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party.
She represents District 66, which includes the St. Paul neighborhoods of St. Anthony Park, Midway, Como, North End, part of the East Side, and the city of Falcon Heights including the University of Minnesota’s St. Paul campus.
Senator Anderson chairs the Senate Environment, Energy & Natural Resources Budget Division, and is a member of the following Senate committees: Energy, Utilities, Technology and Communications; Environment and Natural Resources; Finance; and the E-12 Education Budget and Policy Division.
Senator Anderson has been a leader in the areas of sustainable energy policy, clean water, affordable housing, family friendly workplace policies, and inner city revitalization. In 2008-09 she served as co-chair of Minnesota’s Green Jobs Task Force. She also serves on the Legislative-Citizen Commission on Minnesota Resources (LCCMR); the Lessard-Sams Outdoor Heritage Council (LSOHC); the Legislative Energy Commission; the Council on Asian Pacific Minnesotans; the Environment Committee of the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL), and the Energy Committee of the Council of State Governments’ Midwestern Legislative Conference. In 2009 she was a founding member of CLEAN (Coalition of Legislators for Energy Action Now), a national group of state legislators working closely with the White House to pass federal clean energy jobs legislation.
She holds a B.A. from Carleton College (1982) and a J.D., cum laude, from the University of Minnesota Law School (1986). In 2009 she taught at the University of Minnesota.
In her legal practice she has been a staff attorney for the Minnesota Education Association, a trial attorney for the Hennepin County Public Defender’s Office, a law clerk for Minnesota Court of Appeals Judge Crippen, and a clerk for Legal Services and Proyecto Libertad in Harlingen, Texas.
Her other professional experience includes Research Director for U.S. Senator Wellstone’s 1990 Senate campaign, and she previously was a Community Faculty member at Metropolitan State University.
Senator Anderson’s current community involvement includes Chair of the Advisory Council–PEOPLE, Inc.; Community Advisory Board for the National Children’s Study, a collaborative effort led by the US Dept of Health & Human Services and the EPA; and Member–Hampden Park Foods and Mississippi Market Co-op. She has also served as a Board Member of Lifetrack Resources and of Como Lake Strategic Management, and as a Member of the Center for Violence Prevention and Control Advisory Board at the University of Minnesota School of Public Health.
She was selected the U.S. Democratic delegate to the American Council of Young Political Leaders/East-West Center’s 1994 New Generation Seminar and a Center for Policy Alternatives 1995 Flemming Fellow.
Senator Anderson is married and has two young children.
She enjoys reading, gardening, biking, travel, hiking, camping and exploring the great outdoors with her family.
Ellen Trivia
Did you know? Senator Anderson...
... was the 1st woman Senator to wear pants on the Senate floor.
... passed the 1st law in the nation to give nursing mothers rights in the work place in 1998.
... had her wedding reception at the Saint's Stadium.
... was born in Gary, Indiana.
... is married to former State Representative Andy Dawkins.
... built a skate board ramp in her backyard for her two sons, Jack and Nick.
... has a degree in history.
... is currently the only "Anderson" in the MN Senate.