Collin Peterson
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Collin Clark Peterson (born June 29 1944), is an American politician. Peterson has been a Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives since 1991, representing the 7th District of Minnesota. (map (http://nationalatlas.gov/printable/images/preview/congdist/mn07_109.gif))
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Background and education
Collin Peterson was born in Fargo, North Dakota, grew up on a farm in Baker, Minnesota, and received his B.A. at Moorhead State University in Moorhead, Minnesota. His current home is Detroit Lakes, Minnesota.
Campaigns
Peterson was a member of the Minnesota State Senate from 1977-1986.
He won his present seat in the United States Congress by defeating incumbent Arlan Stangeland in 1990, after unsuccessful attempts in 1986 and 1988. In subsequent elections in 1992 and 1994, he struggled to hold on to his seat in close elections. In 1992 he narrowly won re-election by a 50-49% margin against former state representative Bernie Omann. In a 1994 re-match against Omann, Peterson won by a 51-49% margin. From 1996 on, he has been re-elected by a wide margin, with voters giving him between 65 and 72 percent of the vote.
Issues and positions
Peterson was one of the seven original founders of the Blue Dog Coalition of conservative Democrats in the House.
An avid hunter, Peterson is known for his interest in conservation and sportsmens issues. In the past he has been the Democratic House chair of the Congressional Sportsmens Caucus, with 300+ members. In 2000, he introduced H.R. 1275 to stop the interstate shipping of birds for cockfighting, a bill with 206 co-sponsors which did not make it out of committee. He consistently votes against gun control bills and received an "A" rating and endorsement from the National Rifle Association during the 2004 election. He is a co-sponsor of the America's Redrock Wilderness Act, a bill promoted by the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance to protect Utah wilderness. He is a strong supporter of preserving wildlife and gaming refuges.
Representing a mostly rural district, Peterson takes a strong interest in agriculture issues, and support for increasing agricultural investment programs, farm support programs, protecting family farms, and promoting the use of ethanol and biodiesel fuels.
Among the bills sponsored by Peterson in recent sessions of Congress are bills to provide tax incentives for biodiesel, to eliminate methyl tertiary butyl ether from the fuel supply, to provide for faster assistance to farmers who undergo crop damage in federally-declared disaster areas, and to require the National Transportation Safety Board to investigate fatal railroad grade crossing accidents.
In 1998, Peterson gained attention by proposing a constitutional amendment which would allow the residents of Minnesota's Northwest Angle to vote on whether they wanted to secede from the United States and join the Canadian province of Manitoba.
In January 2005, he was selected by the House Democratic Caucus to succeed former Texas Congressman Charles Stenholm as the Ranking Member on the U.S. House Committee on Agriculture. Some brief controversy ensued during the selection process as Peterson was grilled by House Democratic leaders over his votes in favor of a Republican-sponsored drug bill in 2000 and Medicare bill in 2002.
External links
- Official website (http://collinpeterson.house.gov/)