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During his career of public service, Norm Coleman’s number one priority and passion has been bringing people of all perspectives together to get things done.
 
After growing up in a large Jewish family in Brooklyn, Norm often says he took the lessons he learned around the dinner table and turned them into action at an early age as a student leader and organizer during his undergraduate days at Hofstra University and then as a law student at the University of Iowa.

After becoming president of his law school class and graduating in 1976, Norm spent the next 17 years in public service, working in the Minnesota Attorney General’s office prosecuting cases around the state. He also became increasingly involved in community and public policy issues on his way to being named Solicitor General, the chief prosecutor for the state of Minnesota.

 In 1993, Norm became Mayor of Saint Paul and subsequently led Minnesota's capital city through a remarkable revitalization. He did this by sharing his contagious optimism and vision of what he believed St. Paul could be. His message was simple: Give people hope which in turn breeds confidence and people will invest in the City. By doing so, he brought the city together and great things were accomplished.

An unrelenting can do leader, his ability to establish public-private partnerships to pool resources to benefit the entire city led to a renaissance in St. Paul in which a new Science Museum was built, thousands of new jobs were created, and more than $3 billion in new development began in the city.

In 1996, Norm became increasingly frustrated with a Democratic Party that he felt was moving away from Minnesota’s hardworking middle class roots and values. He joined the Republican Party, which shared his vision on holding down taxes, growing jobs, reforming education and increasing public safety. In his 1997 campaign for re-election as a Republican, he received 59 percent of the vote.

In 1998, Norm ran for Governor of Minnesota, outpacing Democratic candidate Hubert ‘Skip’ Humphrey, but narrowly losing to Independence Party candidate Jesse Ventura. At 8:00 a.m. on the day after the election, he was back at his desk as Mayor of Saint Paul.

 
Norm has often called the ensuing years as mayor some of the most successful of his life. He spearheaded the effort to bring hockey back to Minnesota, securing a National Hockey League franchise in St. Paul, along with the construction of the Xcel Energy Center—the premiere events arena in the country. Norm proudly dropped the puck at the first game of the Minnesota Wild in September 2000.

In 2002, Norm decided to make a run for the U.S. Senate in an effort to bring the success he had in revitalizing St. Paul to the entire state. After a long, hard-fought campaign against incumbent Paul Wellstone, who tragically died in a plane crash shortly before the election, Norm ultimately defeated Wellstone’s replacement, former Vice President Walter Mondale and took office in January of 2003.

Wasting no time, Norm got right to work on behalf of the people of Minnesota, quickly developing a reputation as a hard worker and displaying a willingness to work with both parties to get things done for our home state and the nation. During his first year in office, he delivered on his campaign promises by voting in favor of the 2003 tax cuts that have since led to the creation of over 7 million new jobs, a first-ever prescription drug benefit for seniors and the ban on partial-birth abortion.

Throughout his entire tenure in the Senate, Norm has made it his number one priority to stay connected with his constituents across the state, evidenced by visits to each of Minnesota’s 853 cities by Norm and his staff during his first three years. Norm visited each of Minnesota’s 87 counties during 2006 and is continuing that effort again this year.


As a result of these meetings, Norm has taken a leadership role in the Senate on issues such as renewable energy, playing a key role in establishing the nation’s first ever Renewable Fuels Standard and introducing legislation to replace imported Middle East oil with homegrown, renewable fuels while increasing renewable fuel infrastructure and alternative fuel technologies. He has long sought for a national commitment to renewable energy on the same level of the 1960’s effort that put a man on the moon.  

 

He has also taken a leading role in expanding and improving rural healthcare, growing jobs and encouraging economic development, and pursuing the strongest reintegration initiatives for Minnesota and American soldiers and their families.

Additionally, Norm has put forward a Rural Renaissance initiative designed at providing federal bonding for rural infrastructure projects such as wastewater upgrades – something he heard about the need for in his many visits across the state. He has worked tirelessly to ensure a low-cost, high-security solution to the new documentation requirements under the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative.

He has also led efforts to put in place a port security pilot program to ensure screening of vessels headed for U.S. ports and uncovered over $11 billion in waste, fraud, abuse and potential taxpayer savings as head of the Senate’s Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations.

Finally, Norm has been successful in passing legislation that would increase global competitiveness by funding initiatives to prioritize math and science in primary education, and increase funding for Pell Grants, helping more Americans afford access to a college education.

He has accomplished great things in his first term as Minnesota’s senior Senator. To read more about what Norm is working to get done in Washington, click here.

 
Senator Coleman and his wife, Laurie reside in St. Paul and have two children, Jacob, 21, and Sarah, 17.