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Michelle Fischbach Biography
Michelle Fischbach is an American politician born on 3rd November 1965 in Woodbury, Minnesota, United States. She is serving as the 49th lieutenant governor of Minnesota, from 2018 to 2019.
Before she served as president of the Minnesota Senate. She was the first elected as the State Senator in 1996, where she represented portions of Benton County and Stearns County. In January 2018, she worked as the President of the Senate, where Fischbach became the Lieutenant Governor following the resignation of Tina Smith. She was succeeded as Lieutenant Governor by Peggy Flanagan on January 7, 2019.
Michelle Fischbach Age
Michelle Fischbach was born on November 3, 1965 (she is 53 years old as of 2018)
Michelle Fischbach Net worth
Michelle Fischbach has an estimated net worth of $4 million.
Michelle Fischbach and husband photoMichelle Fischbach Family
Michelle Fischbach was raised up in Woodbury Minnesota by her parents.
Michelle Fischbach Husband
She started dating her future husband while she was attending St. Cloud State University, and they later moved to Paynesville where they still live. They later got married. Her husband served as executive director of Minnesota Citizens Concerned for Life since 2001. The couple has two grown children and several grandchildren.
Michelle Fischbach Education
Michelle Fischbach graduated from Woodbury High School, and she joined College of St. Benedict in St. Joseph from 1984 to 1986 and, later,she we nt to St. Cloud State University in St. Cloud, where she received her B.A. in political science and economics in 1989.
Michelle Fischbach Minnesota Senate
Michelle Fischbach was elected as the Senator of Minnesota Senate in 1996. She was elected after the resignation o f Senator Joe Bertram, who had recently pled guilty to shoplifting. Fischbach was reelected months later in the 1996 general election, as well as in 2000, 2002, 2006, 2010, 2012, and 2016. She served as an assistant minority leader from 2001 to 2002 and from 2007 to 2008, and as a Deputy Minority Leader from 2009 to 2010. She also served as the chair of the Senate’s Higher Education Committee. After the 2011 election the senate Republicans won their first time since party designation, whereby she was elected by her colleagues to serve as the state’s first female President of the Senate, holding the post from January 2011 through January 2013. After the Republicans regained a majority following the 2016 election, Fischbach was again elected to be president of the Senate on January 3, 2017.
Michelle Fischbach Lieutenant Governor of Minnesota
Michelle Fischbach became the 49th Lieutenant Governor of Minnesota in January 2018 when Tina Smith resigned to accept an appointment to the United States Senate. Smith was appointed by Minnesota Governor Mark Dayton to replace Al Franken, who resigned the seat over allegations of sexual harassment. She acknowledged having ascended to the role, but maintained she would remain in the Senate and referred to herself as “acting” lieutenant governor.
She said that her intension is to serve as lieutenant governor while retaining her senate seat, but her legal ability to do so was questioned. Fischbach noted a memo from the senate’s nonpartisan counsel, which cited an 1898 Minnesota Supreme Court decision, as legal precedent for her to serve in both offices. In an interview, she asserted the lieutenant governor’s duties are largely ceremonial and she would have no problem fulfilling the roles of both offices. She declined the lieutenant governor’s salary, opting to receive only the pay of a state senator.
An advisory opinion was issued by the state’s attorney general disputed Fischbach’s legal ability to serve in both offices at once, citing a 1972 constitutional amendment and historical precedents, such as Alec G. Olson’s resignation from the state senate upon becoming lieutenant governor in 1976. (The Minnesota Constitution specifies “No senator or representative shall hold any other office under the authority of the United States or the state of Minnesota, except that of postmaster or of notary public.”)
The outcome was widely seen as having potentially significant ramifications on Minnesota politics, as Republicans held only a two-vote majority in the state senate at the time. In December, to avoid a potential tie should Fischbach be forced to resign her senate seat, Senate Majority Leader Paul Gazelka and House Speaker Kurt Daudt sent a letter to Governor Dayton requesting a special legislative session to elect a Democratic president of the senate. Dayton and legislative Democrats immediately rejected the idea.
The senator Minority Tom Bakk filed the lawsuit to attempt to force Fischbach out of the senate should she attempt to serve in both offices, saying the senate’s “balance of power will be up for grabs.” She also said that she would run for the re-election into the senate. In January 2018 a constituent and local Democratic Party activist filed a lawsuit against her, asking the Ramsey County District Court judge to remove her from the state senate. In February, Ramsey County District Court judge dismissed the suit of being filed too early, not on the merits of the case. ended the dispute over whether she could hold both offices simultaneously by resigning from the Senate on May 25, 2018 and being sworn in as lieutenant governor. The lawsuits, which was rendered by her resignation, cost the Minnesota taxpayers paid over $146,000.
Michelle Fischbach Campaign
Michelle Fischbach joined the campaign of Tim Pawlenty, the former Minnesota governor running in the 2018 election to return to the governor’s office, as the candidate for lieutenant governor on his ticket. She defeated Pawlenty in the Republican primary by Jeff Johnson. She was defeated by her opponent Tim Waltz of the Democratican regardless of her giving up as the Lieutenant Governor.
Michelle Fischbach Resigns
Michelle Fischbach officially resigned as a state senator Friday and took the oath of office for lieutenant governor, ending a legal battle that had challenged her unusual situation as holder of those two jobs. Fischbach, a Paynesville Republican elected in 1996, involuntarily stepped into the lieutenant governor post in January after Gov. Mark Dayton named then-Lt. Gov. Tina Smith as a U.S. senator to replace a resigning Al Franken. The state constitution called for Fischbach, as Senate president, to fill the lieutenant governor vacancy. Fischbach argued she could also keep her job in the state Senate. Others, including Dayton, disagreed.
The question ended up in court. One lawsuit challenging Fischbach’s dual roles as lieutenant governor and senator was tossed out in February. A second suit was set for a hearing next month. That suit is expected to be dropped given Fischbach’s resignation from the state Senate. Her decision splits the Senate evenly at 33 Republicans and 33 Democrats. Fischbach said she waited until the end of the legislative session to resign from her seat because she felt her Senate District 13 constituents needed a representative at the Capitol. Dayton’s office said the governor will call a special election to fill Fischbach’s Senate seat to coincide with the November general election. Fischbach said she will not run in the special election.
When asked if she has made plans to serve as lieutenant governor on any other candidate’s ticket in the future, Fischbach focused on her service today. “There’s lots of things that go on out there, right now I’m here to talk about my 22 years of service and becoming lieutenant governor,” she said. “If there’s questions about that, there may be other folks that you want to ask.” Dayton said that the working relationship between him and Fischbach has been excellent, although the Republican and Democrat don’t always see eye to eye. “We’ll just agree to disagree,” Dayton said. “I think Minnesotans have gotten used to that.”
