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Home | Politically Connected | State Politics

Zellers elected House minority leader

The Maple Grove Republican pledged to respect tax dollars and find ways to make government work better.

By KEVIN DUCHSCHERE, Star Tribune

Last update: June 23, 2009 - 11:25 PM

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A North Dakota farm boy who built a career in politics handling communications duties for other politicians has become the new voice of Minnesota House Republicans.

Rep. Kurt Zellers of Maple Grove won a contest Tuesday night for House minority leader. He succeeds Rep. Marty Seifert, who decided to step down from the leadership post to prepare his campaign for governor.

After several ballots, Zellers won about 70 percent of the votes of the caucus' 47 members, defeating Rep. Randy Demmer of Hayfield.

"We're going to respect the taxpayers' dollars," Zellers said shortly after the vote. "We're also going to do some new ideas ... making government work a little smarter."

Zellers, 39, an account executive with a Minneapolis public relations firm and a married father of two, said he will be a full-time leader. His first task, he said, will be raising money and recruiting candidates to help build up the GOP caucus, whose majority was shattered by DFL victories in 2006.

He said he will focus on grassroots politics, will seek guidance from new members on winning strategies, and will underscore the party's dedication to restoring "fiscal sanity."

A native of Devils Lake, N.D., who played football at the University of North Dakota, Zellers moved to the Twin Cities after college to take a sales job. Instead, he was swept into politics after working on a gubernatorial campaign in North Dakota and meeting former Minnesota Republican Sen. Dave Durenberger.

In 1994, Zellers worked as a campaign staffer for U.S. Rep. Rod Grams and became his communications director after Grams was elected to the U.S. Senate.

After Grams lost in 2000, Zellers was Norm Coleman's spokesman in the 2002 U.S. Senate race and public affairs director for the House Republican caucus before throwing his own hat in the ring.

Zellers decided in 2003 to run in a special election for then-Rep. Rich Stanek's House seat, which was vacated after Stanek was named public safety commissioner. He won handily and has been reelected three times, including a narrow victory in the DFL year of 2006.

While in the House, Zellers has focused on fiscal restraint, transportation and public safety. To create jobs and to spur development, he has lobbied to gradually eliminate Minnesota's corporate income tax.

In 2005, he was the chief author of a state law mandating life sentences for violent sex offenders. He also backs a high-speed busway between Rogers and downtown Minneapolis.

Kevin Duchschere • 651-292-0164

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