This is a list of speakers of the Minnesota House of Representatives. The speaker of the House is usually the leader of the majority party, and is the most powerful figure in the House.

Territorial # Image Speaker Took office Left office Party/caucus 1 Joseph W. Furber 1849 1851 Whig 2 Michael E. Ames 1851 1852 Democratic 3 John D. Ludden 1852 1853 Unknown 4 David Day 1853 1854 Unknown 5 Nathan C. D. Taylor 1854 1855 Unknown 6 James S. Norris 1855 1856 Democratic 7 Charles Gardner 1856 1857 Unknown 8 Joseph W. Furber 1857 1857 Whig

State

# Image Speaker Took office Left office Party/caucus Notes Session 1 John S. Watrous 2 December 1857 12 March 1858 Unknown Sources conflict on party 1st 2 George Bradley 12 March 1858 6 December 1859 Unknown No sources proving or disproving any party affiliation 3 Amos Coggswell 7 December 1859 7 January 1861 Republican 2nd 4 Jared Benson 8 January 1861 5 January 1863 Republican 3rd 4th 5 Charles D. Sherwood 6 January 1863 4 January 1864 Republican 5th 6 Jared Benson 5 January 1864 1864? Republican 6th 7 Thomas H. Armstrong 1864? 1865 Republican Unclear whether he took office in 1864 or 1865 7th 8 James B. Wakefield 1866 1866 Republican Served as a U.S. representative 8th 9 John Q. Farmer 1867 1868 Whig/Republican   9th 10th 10 Chester D. Davidson 1869 1869 Republican 11th 11 John L. Merriam 1870 1871 Republican   12th 13th 12 A.R. Hall 1872 1874 Republican   14th 15th 16th 13 William R. Kinyon 1875 1876 Republican   17th 18th 14 John L. Gibbs 1877 1877 Republican 19th 15 Charles A. Gilman 1878 1879 Republican   20th 21st 16 Loren Fletcher 1881 1885 Republican   22nd 23rd 17 John L. Gibbs 1885 1887Republican 24th 18 William Rush Merriam 1887 1889 Republican Served as Governor of Minnesota 25th 19 Charles H. Graves 1889 1891 Republican 26th 20 Ezra T. Champlin 1891 1893 Alliance 27th 21 William E. Lee 1893 1895 Republican 28th 22 Samuel Rinnah Van Sant 1895 1897 Republican Served as Governor of Minnesota 29th 23 John D. Jones 1897 1899 Republican 30th 24 Arthur N. Dare 1899 1901 Republican 31st 25 M.J. Dowling 1901 1903 Republican 32nd 26 Leverett W. Babcock 1903 1905 Republican 33rd 27 Frank Clague 1905 1907 Republican Served as a U.S. representative 34th 28 Lawrence H. Johnson 1907 1909 Republican 35th 29 Anton J. Rockne 1909 1911 Republican 36th 30 Howard H. Dunn 1911 1913 Republican 37th 31 Henry Rines 1913 1915 Conservative Served as Minnesota Treasurer 38th 32 H. H. Flowers 1915 1917 Conservative 39th 33 Ralph J. Parker January 1917 January 1919 Conservative 40th 34 William I. Nolan January 1919 January 1925 Conservative   41st 42nd 43rd 35 John A. Johnson January 1925 January 1931 Conservative   44th 45th 46th 36 Oscar A. Swenson January 1931 January 1933 Conservative 47th 37 Charles Munn January 1933 January 1935 Liberal 48th 38 George W. Johnson January 1935 January 1937 Conservative 49th 39 Harold H. Barker January 1937 January 1939 Liberal 50th 40 Lawrence M. Hall January 1939 January 1949 Conservative Longest-serving speaker 51st 52nd 53rd 54th 55th 41 John A. Hartle January 4, 1949 January 6, 1955 Conservative   56th 57th 58th 42 Alfred I. Johnson January 6, 1955 January 5, 1959 Liberal   59th 60th 43 Edwin J. Chilgren January 5, 1959 January 7, 1963 Liberal   61st 62nd 44 Lloyd L. Duxbury January 7, 1963 January 1971 Conservative   63rd 64th 65th 66th 45 A.W. Dirlam January 1971 January 1973 Conservative 67th 46 Martin Olav Sabo January 1973 January 1979 DFL Served as a U.S. representative 68th 69th 70th 47 Rod Searle January 1979 January 1980 Independent-Republican 71st 48 Fred C. Norton January 1980 January 1981 DFL Served on Minnesota Court of Appeals 49 Harry A. Sieben January 1981 January 1985 DFL   72nd 73rd 50 David M. Jennings January 1985 January 1987 Independent-Republican 74th 51 Fred C. Norton January 1987 June 1987 DFL Served on Minnesota Court of Appeals 75th 52 Robert Vanasek June 1987 January 6, 1992 DFL   75th 76th 77th 53 Dee Long January 6, 1992 September 15, 1993 DFL First woman to serve as speaker 77th 78th 54 Irv Anderson September 1993 January 1997 DFL   78th 79th 55 Phil Carruthers January 1997 January 1999 DFL 80th 56 Steve Sviggum January 1999 January 2007 Republican   81st 82nd 83rd 84th 57 Margaret Anderson Kelliher January 2007 January 2011 DFL   85th 86th 58 Kurt Zellers January 4, 2011 January 8, 2013 Republican 87th 59 Paul Thissen January 8, 2013 January 6, 2015 DFL Appointed to the Minnesota Supreme Court in 2018 88th 60 Kurt Daudt January 6, 2015 January 8, 2019 Republican   89th 90th61Melissa HortmanJanuary 8, 2019January 14, 2025 DFL   91st 92nd 93rd — — — January 14, 2025 February 6, 2025 Vacant Lisa Demuth (Republican) was purportedly elected on the aforementioned date; the Minnesota Supreme Court invalidated her election, finding that the House did not have a quorum to transact the business of electing her94th62Lisa DemuthFebruary 6, 2025Incumbent RepublicanFirst African-American speaker, first biracial speaker, first female Republican Speaker.Source: Minnesota Legislative Reference Library

Notes on Minnesota political party names Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party: On April 15, 1944, the state Democratic Party and the Minnesota Farmer-Labor Party merged and created the Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party (DFL). It is affiliated with the national Democratic Party. Republican Party of Minnesota: From November 15, 1975, to September 23, 1995, the name of the state Republican party was the Independent-Republican party (I-R). The party has always been affiliated with the national Republican Party.

In 1913, Minnesota legislators began to be elected on nonpartisan ballots. Nonpartisanship also was an historical accident that occurred in the 1913 session when a bill to provide for no party elections of judges and city and county officers was amended to include the Legislature in the belief that it would kill the bill. Legislators ran and caucused as "Liberals" or "Conservatives" roughly equivalent in most years to Democratic-Farmer-Labor and Republican, respectively. The law was changed in 1973, in 1974, House members again ran with party designation.

Speaker Emeritus Under House rules, former speakers who are serving in the House are given the title of Speaker Emeritus. While the position has no formal power, the title is seen as a sign of respect for former speakers.Minnesota House Rules

See also List of Minnesota state legislatures

References

External links List of speakers at Minnesota Legislative Library