List of presidents of the Minnesota Senate

The president of the Minnesota Senate is the presiding officer of the Minnesota Senate. Until 1973, the lieutenant governor served as the Senate president. Since then, presidents have been elected by the body, usually at the nomination of the majority.

President of the Minnesota Senate
Incumbent Bobby Joe Champion since January 3, 2023
Term length	Two years, no term limit
Inaugural holder	Alec G. Olson
Formation	January 1973
Website	http://www.senate.leg.state.mn.us/

While power within the Senate lies primarily with the majority leader, the president of the Senate does succeed to lieutenant governor in the event that office becomes vacant, something which happened most recently in 2018.

1858–1973

From statehood until 1973, the lieutenant governor served as president. Not all lieutenant governors served at the same time as the Senate was in session.

No.	Name	Took office	Left office	Party
1	William Holcombe	1858	1860		Democratic
2	Ignatius L. Donnelly	1860	1863		Republican
3	Charles D. Sherwood	1864	1866		Republican
4	Thomas H. Armstrong	1866	1870		Republican
5	William H. Yale	1870	1874		Republican
6	Alphonso Barto	1874	1876		Republican
7	James Wakefield	1876	1880		Republican
8	Charles A. Gilman	1880	1887		Republican
9	Albert E. Rice	1887	1891		Republican
10	Gideon S. Ives	1891	1893		Republican
11	David Marston Clough	1893	1895		Republican
12	Frank A. Day	1895	1897		Republican
13	John L. Gibbs	1897	1899		Republican
14	Lyndon Ambrose Smith	1899	1903		Republican
15	Ray W. Jones	1903	1907		Republican
16	Adolph Olson Eberhart	1907	1909		Republican
17	Edward Everett Smith	1909	1911		Republican
18	Samuel Y. Gordon	1911	1913		Republican
19	Joseph A. A. Burnquist	1913	1915		Republican
20	George H. Sullivan	1916	1917		Republican
21	Thomas Frankson	1917	1921		Republican
22	Louis L. Collins	1921	1925		Republican
23	William I. Nolan	1925	1929		Republican
24	Charles Edward Adams	1929	1931		Republican
25	Henry M. Arens	1931	1933		Farmer–Labor
26	Konrad K. Solberg	1933	1935		Farmer–Labor
27	Hjalmar Petersen	1935	1936		Farmer–Labor
28	Gottfrid Lindsten	1937	1939		Farmer–Labor
29	C. Elmer Anderson	1939	1943		Republican
30	Edward John Thye	1943	1943		Republican
31	Archie H. Miller	1943	1945		Republican
32	C. Elmer Anderson	1945	1951		Republican
33	Ancher Nelsen	1953	1953		Republican
34	Karl Rolvaag	1955	1963		Democratic–Farmer–Labor
35	Alexander M. Keith	1963	1967		Democratic–Farmer–Labor
36	James B. Goetz	1967	1971		Republican
37	Rudy Perpich	1971	1973		Democratic–Farmer–Labor

Since 1973

Beginning in 1973, the Minnesota Senate began electing its own presidents.

No.	Name	Took office	Left office	Party
38	Alec G. Olson	1973	1976		Democratic–Farmer–Labor
39	Edward J. Gearty	1977	1981		Democratic–Farmer–Labor
40	John T. Davies	1981	1983		Democratic–Farmer–Labor
41	Jerome M. Hughes	1983	1987		Democratic–Farmer–Labor
42	Florian Chmielewski	1987	1987		Democratic–Farmer–Labor
43	Jerome M. Hughes	1987	1993		Democratic–Farmer–Labor
44	Allan H. Spear	1993	2001		Democratic–Farmer–Labor
45	Don Samuelson	January 3, 2001	January 6, 2003		Democratic–Farmer–Labor
46	Jim Metzen	January 7, 2003	January 4, 2011		Democratic–Farmer–Labor
47	Michelle Fischbach	January 4, 2011	January 7, 2013		Republican
48	Sandy Pappas	January 8, 2013	January 2, 2017		Democratic–Farmer–Labor
49	Michelle Fischbach	January 3, 2017	May 25, 2018		Republican
50	Jeremy Miller	January 7, 2019	November 12, 2020		Republican
51	David Tomassoni	November 12, 2020	January 7, 2021		Independent
52	Jeremy Miller	September 9, 2021	January 31, 2022		Republican
53	David Osmek	January 31, 2022	January 3, 2023		Republican
54	Bobby Joe Champion	January 3, 2023	Incumbent		Democratic–Farmer–Labor

¹In accordance with the Minnesota Constitution, Fischbach automatically became Lieutenant Governor of Minnesota on January 3, 2018, after previous Lt. Gov. Tina Smith resigned to accept an appointment to the United States Senate. Fischbach formally resigned from the Minnesota Senate on May 25, 2018. As the Senate did not meet during this time, the position was vacant until Jeremy Miller was formally elected in January 2019.

References

• Minnesota Senate President and President Pro Tempore, 1849-