John Lesch
Encyclopedia
John Lesch is a member of the Minnesota House of Representatives
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...

 and a prosecuting attorney for 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...

. He has served as a state representative for District 66A since 2003. The district includes portions of the city of Saint Paul 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.

Biography

Lesch attended St. Louis University, graduating with degrees in philosophy and psychology, and later a law degree from Hamline University
Hamline University
-Red Wing location :Hamline was named in honor of Leonidas Lent Hamline, a bishop of the Methodist Church whose interest in the frontier led him to donate $25,000 toward the building of an institution of higher learning in what was then the territory of Minnesota. Today, a statue of Bishop Hamline...

. Through high school and college, he spent three years at the seminary with the Redemptorists Order of Catholic Priests and Brothers
Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer
The Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer is a Roman Catholic missionary Congregation founded by Saint Alphonsus Liguori at Scala, near Amalfi, Italy for the purpose of labouring among the neglected country people in the neighbourhood of Naples.Members of the Congregation, priests and brothers,...

.

Before running for the Minnesota House of Representatives
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...

, Lesch interned for former Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party
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...

 (DFL) Representative 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...

 in 1997 and 1998. He worked on several campaigns and chaired the Senate District 66 DFL Party from 2000 to 2002. He was also a legislative aid to former St. Paul Council member and now Mayor Chris Coleman
Chris Coleman (politician)
Christopher "Chris" B. Coleman is a Minnesota politician and the mayor of St. Paul. He defeated incumbent mayor Randy Kelly in 2005 and took office on January 3, 2006.- Family and early career :...

. When Representative Tom Osthoff announced his retirement in 2002, he decided to run for the House.

On October 8, 2009, it was reported that Lesch had joined the Minnesota National Guard
Minnesota National Guard
The Minnesota National Guard is composed of approximately 14,000 soldiers of the Minnesota Army National Guard and Airmen of the Minnesota Air National Guard, serving in 63 communities across the state. The Constitution of the United States specifically charges the National Guard with dual federal...

. He completed his Basic Training and Advanced Infantry Training at Fort Benning, Georgia, on February 12, 2010, graduating with a 90% rank in physical performance and rifle marksmanship. Lesch was commissioned at Ft. Benning, GA, on Sept. 2, 2010, graduating 7th in a class of over 100. He maintains a rank of 2nd Lieutenant (O-1) and leads a platoon of light infantry soldiers with the 34th Infantry Division, (Red Bulls).

On November 16, 2010, incoming Minority Leader Paul Thissen
Paul Thissen
Paul Thissen is a Minnesota politician and a member of the Minnesota House of Representatives from District 63A, which includes south Minneapolis and Richfield in Hennepin County, which is in the Twin Cities metropolitan area. He is the current Minnesota House Minority Leader. He was first elected...

 announced that Lesch will be one of four Minority Whips during the 2011-2012 legislative session.

In March 2011, Lesch announced that he will seek 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...

 District 66 seat being vacated by Senator Ellen Anderson
Ellen Anderson
Ellen Anderson is a Minnesota politician and a former member of the Minnesota Senate who represented District 66, which includes the northern portion of the city of Saint Paul, as well as the entire city of Falcon Heights in Ramsey County, which is in the Twin Cities metropolitan area. A Democrat,...

, who was appointed 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....

 by 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...

. In the primary Lesch lost to former State Representative Mary Jo McGuire
Mary Jo McGuire
Mary Jo McGuire is a Minnesota politician and a member of the Minnesota Senate who represents District 66, which includes portions of Ramsey County in the Twin Cities metropolitan area. She previously served in the Minnesota House of Representatives from 1989 to 2003, representing District 54A...

.

Trip to Iraq

In February 2006, Lesch made a personal trip to Iraq at his own expense with the stated intention of learning as much as possible about the conflict in as short a time as possible. His plans to blog the trip soon leaked to the press and the trip became a several day news story. "While it is true that most folks would choose more stable settings for their vacation, I believe the Iraq war is the seminal conflict for our age," Lesch wrote in announcing his departure. "What happens there today will affect many generations of Americans and Iraqis..." Lesch received some praise, but mostly sharp criticism in the local press for making the trip. He said he'd wanted to see firsthand what conditions were like there, and that the trip was the most rewarding he'd ever taken. Despite the substantial criticism the trip had evoked in the press, Lesch said he had no regrets for making it.

Dangerous dog legislation

In June 2007, Lesch proposed legislation to ban five breeds of dogs identified as especially aggressive by the Center for Disease Control: Rottweilers, Pit Bulls, Akitas, Chow Chows, and wolf hybrids. Mixes of these breeds would also have been banned under the bill. A study published in the Journal of the American Veterinary Medicine Association in 2000 found that half of the 238 human deaths it identified as dog-related over the preceding 20-year period involved either pit bull-type dogs or Rottweilers.

A study conducted by epidemiologists from the Minnesota Department of Health’s Injury and Violence Prevention Unit found that hospital-treated dog bites increased by 40 percent over the interval from 1998-2005. In Minnesota 849 people were hospitalized for dog bites and more than 24,000 were treated in emergency rooms during this eight-year interval, according to the study. The highest rate of treatment and hospitalization was for children ages one to four.

Opponents to Lesch's proposal argued that bite statistics are more a factor of the popularity of certain breeds than any predisposition to aggression: The more dogs of a certain type, the greater the number of bite incidents that will occur involving dogs of that type, they said. Opponents also identified owner behavior as being the determining factor in canine aggression, rather than dog breed, and pointed to the difficulty of exactly identifying a dog of mixed breed without genetic testing as a practical barrier to implementation.

Rumors of U.S. Senate Campaign

In February 2007, Lesch stated he was considering running for the United States Senate seat held by Norm Coleman
Norm Coleman
Norman Bertram Coleman, Jr. is an American attorney and politician. He was a United States senator from Minnesota from 2003 to 2009. Coleman was elected in 2002 and served in the 108th, 109th, and 110th Congresses. Before becoming a senator, he was mayor of Saint Paul, Minnesota, from 1994 to 2002...

. No campaign announcement was ever made.

Enlistment in National Guard

In 2009, Lesch enlisted in the Minnesota Army National Guard and completed Basic Combat Training. While most lawyers who join the military select the Judge Advocate General's (or JAG) Corps, Lesch opted to join the Infantry. In 2010, Lesch completed Officer Candidate School (OCS) training at Fort Benning, Georgia and accepted a commission as a Second Lieutenant. While attending OCS, Lesch commenced his reelection campaign for his seat in the Minnesota House of Representatives via Facebook and Twitter. Minnesota's Campaign Finance and Public Disclosure Board determined there are no restrictions on running for office while in the military, and no complaint was brought against Lesch. The military's own rules about political activity are complicated, however. Although neither the Army nor Minnesota National Guard has issued a formal statement regarding Lesch's campaign activities and no complaints have been made, unintentional violations of those rules can easily occur.

Run for State Senate

In March 2011, newly elected 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...

 appointed District 66 State Senator
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...

 Ellen Anderson
Ellen Anderson
Ellen Anderson is a Minnesota politician and a former member of the Minnesota Senate who represented District 66, which includes the northern portion of the city of Saint Paul, as well as the entire city of Falcon Heights in Ramsey County, which is in the Twin Cities metropolitan area. A Democrat,...

 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....

. After she announced her resignation from the Senate, effective March 21, 2011, a number of individuals announced that they would run for the seat, including former DFL State Rep. Mary Jo McGuire
Mary Jo McGuire
Mary Jo McGuire is a Minnesota politician and a member of the Minnesota Senate who represents District 66, which includes portions of Ramsey County in the Twin Cities metropolitan area. She previously served in the Minnesota House of Representatives from 1989 to 2003, representing District 54A...

, DFL Attorney Steve Marchese, Republican Greg Copeland and Lesch. The primary election was scheduled for Tuesday, March 29, 2011, and the general election is scheduled for April 12, 2011.

Since the district leans heavily Democrat, the key election was the March 29, 2011, DFL Primary. Many election observers presume the winner of the DFL Primary will win the Senate seat. During the primary campaign, current District 66B Rep. Alice Hausman
Alice Hausman
Alice Hausman is a Minnesota politician and a member of the Minnesota House of Representatives representing District 66B, which includes portions of the city of Saint Paul in Ramsey County, which is part of the Twin Cities metropolitan area. A Democrat, she is also a retired educator.Hausman was...

 announced that she was backing McGuire. Lesch subsequently lost the DFL Primary to McGuire by 54% to 36%.

Electoral history

External links




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