Collin Peterson

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Collin Peterson

Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Minnesota's 7th district
Term of office: 1991 - present
Political party:	Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party
Preceded by:	Arlan Stangeland
Succeeded by:	Incumbent
Born:	June 29, 1944 Fargo, North Dakota

Collin Clark Peterson (born June 29, 1944), is an American politician. Peterson has been a Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives since 1991, representing Minnesota's 7th congressional district, one of eight congressional districts in Minnesota.

1 Background and education
2 Campaigns
3 Issues and positions
4 Other Activities
5 Electoral history
6 References
7 External links

[edit] Background and education

Collin Peterson was born in Fargo, North Dakota, grew up on a farm in Baker, Minnesota, and received his B.A. at Moorhead State University in Moorhead, Minnesota. His current home is Detroit Lakes, Minnesota.

[edit] Campaigns

Peterson was a member of the Minnesota State Senate from 1977-1986.

He won his present seat in the United States Congress by defeating incumbent Arlan Stangeland in 1990, after unsuccessful attempts in 1986 and 1988. In subsequent elections in 1992 and 1994, he struggled to hold on to his seat in close elections. In 1992 he narrowly won re-election by a 50-49% margin against former state representative Bernie Omann. In a 1994 re-match against Omann, Peterson won by a 51-49% margin. From 1996 on, he has been re-elected by a wide margin, with voters giving him between 65 and 72 percent of the vote.

Republican Mike Barrett is challenging Peterson in the 2006 election. Campaign issues include Peterson's support for amnesty for illegal aliens, repeated votes against the Patriot Act, alignment with House liberal Democrats, and heavy financial support of Peterson by out-of-state business special interest groups (PACs).

[edit] Issues and positions

Peterson is a co-sponsor of the Agricultural Job Opportunities, Benefits, and Security Act of 2005, which would provide amnesty and job protection for three million illegal immigrant agricultural workers and their families, and extend the visas of legal immigrant agricultural workers.

In 1998, Peterson gained attention by proposing a constitutional amendment which would allow the residents of Minnesota's Northwest Angle to vote on whether they wanted to secede from the United States and join the Canadian province of Manitoba.

Peterson was one of the seven original founders of the Blue Dog Coalition of conservative Democrats in the House.

An avid hunter, Peterson is known for his interest in conservation and sportsmens issues. In 2000, he introduced H.R. 1275 to stop the interstate shipping of birds for cockfighting, a bill with 206 co-sponsors which did not make it out of committee. He is a strong supporter of preserving wildlife and gaming refuges.

Representing a mostly rural district, Peterson takes a strong interest in corporate agriculture issues, and support for increasing agricultural investment programs, farm support programs, and promoting the use of ethanol and biodiesel fuels.

In January 2005, he made a political deal with liberal Democrats to align with them and then was selected by the House Democratic Caucus to succeed former Texas Congressman Charles Stenholm as the Ranking Member on the U.S. House Committee on Agriculture.

Peterson was listed by political experts as a conservative Democrat in the U.S. Congress, but since his deal to become ranking Democrat on the Agriculture Committee recently has voted more often with liberal Democrats. He sometimes votes with Republicans on social issues like gay rights, abortion, and capital punishment On some issues, however, he is closer to the liberal wing of his party: he has voted against most free trade agreements, the Freedom to Farm act, the Telecom Act of 1996, both versions of the Patriot Act, and he has been sharply critical of the No Child Left Behind Act, which he contends is unfair to rural students.

He is considered to be the most conservative DFL member of the Minnesota delegation in the 109^th Congress, scoring 50% conservative by a conservative group^[1] and 57% progressive by a liberal group.^[2] Minnesota Congressional Districts shows the scores for the entire delegation.

Peterson was one of the few Democrats to vote in favor of the Military Commissions Act of 2006 [1].

[edit] Other Activities

In December 2005, Peterson joined with several other Congressmen to form the Second Amendments, a bipartisan rock and country band set to play for United States troops stationed overseas over the Holiday season. 1

[edit] Electoral history

2006 Race for U.S. House of Representatives - 7th District
- Collin Peterson (DFL) (inc.), 70%
- Mike Barrett (R), 29%

[edit] References

^ Congressional Voting Scorecard 2005 (pdf). SBE Council’s Congressional Voting Scorecard 2005. Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council (June, 2006). Retrieved on 2006-11-02.
^ Leading with the Left. Progressive Punch. Retrieved on 2006-11-02.