John Hottinger DEMDemocrat

John Hottinger is a Minnesota attorney and politician and a former member and majority leader of the Minnesota Senate. First elected in 1990, he was re-elected in 1992, 1996, 2000 and 2002. A Democrat, he represented the old District 24 prior to the 2002 redistricting, and the District 23 thereafter. The district included portions of Blue Earth, Le Sueur, Nicollet, Sibley and Waseca counties in the south central part of the state. In 1994, Hottinger ran unsuccessfully for the U.S. House and was defeated by Republican Gil Gutknecht. Hottinger served as a majority whip from 1993 to 2000, and as an assistant majority leader during the 2001–02 biennium. He was chosen majority leader in 2003 after Senator Roger Moe retired to run for governor. After a difficult year, in which the DFL Party majority was seen to have been outmaneuvered by Republican Governor Tim Pawlenty, Hottinger stepped down, turning power over to Senator Dean Johnson. In January 2004, he was selected the national legislator of the month by the Center for Policy Alternatives one month after Illinois legislator Barack Obama won the honor Hottinger has been quoted as saying the two of them have since taken "divergent" paths. The CPA praised Hottinger "…for disowning budget cuts and yet giving the GOP enough votes on the budget bills so that government would not be shut down, which would have imposed further pain on vulnerable Minnesotans and state employees." The CPA added that he had "strengthened the progressive community for battles in 2004 and beyond." During his time in the Senate, Hottinger chaired the following committees: Health and Family Security, Rules, and Early Childhood Policy and Finance division of the Finance Committee.