# Harold LeVander *Governor of Minnesota, 1967–1971, who approved the acts creating the Metropolitan Council and the Department of Human Rights on May 25, 1967.* Karl Harold Phillip LeVander (October 10, 1910 – March 30, 1992) was a Minnesota attorney and Republican politician. He held office as the 32nd [[Governor of Minnesota]] from January 2, 1967, to January 4, 1971.[^1][^2][^3] He won the office in the 1966 election, unseating the DFL incumbent, [[Karl Rolvaag]].[^1] On a single day, May 25, 1967, LeVander approved two acts. Laws 1967 chapter 896 established the [[Metropolitan Council (Minnesota)]], and chapter 897 established the [[Department of Human Rights]].[^4][^5][^6][^7] As enacted, the council was a regional government with a tax levy, and the governor appointed its members; none were elected.[^5][^7] The project's master record quotes the department's founding text, which it reports verifying against the session-law PDFs. That text made the commissioner serve "at the pleasure of the governor for a four-year term, which shall coincide with the term of the governor."[^7] The same record describes the 1967 department as "the enforcement agency through which the modern federal actions run."[^7] On January 14, 2026, the [[United States Department of Justice]] issued release No. 26-21, titled *United States Department of Justice Files Lawsuit Against Minnesota's 'Affirmative Action' Regime*. Attorney General Pamela Bondi certified the case as a matter of general public importance.[^8] The sources cited here do not record the suit's docket number or its current status. ## Background LeVander was born in Swedehome, Nebraska, near Stromsburg in Polk County. He went to high school in Watertown, Minnesota.[^1][^9] His father, Peter Magni LeVander, was a clergyman who had immigrated from Sweden.[^1] At Gustavus Adolphus College he was class president and student council president. He also debated, winning the National Peace Oratorical Contest, and competed in football and track. He graduated magna cum laude in 1932.[^1] He then studied at the [[University of Minnesota Law School]].[^1] He married Iantha Powrie in 1938, and the couple had three children.[^1] ## Career From 1935 to 1939, LeVander was an assistant [[county attorney]] in Dakota County.[^1] He practiced at Stassen & Ryan in South St. Paul, the firm of future governor [[Harold Stassen]] and future U.S. Representative Elmer Ryan. He also taught speech and coached debate at Macalester College.[^1] In South St. Paul he was president of the Chamber of Commerce from 1952 to 1954. He was also president of the South Saint Paul United Federal Savings and Loan Association from 1953 to 1967.[^1] Gustavus gave him its Greater Gustavus Alumni Award for Distinguished Career in Law in 1962.[^1] He defeated Rolvaag for the governorship on November 8, 1966.[^1] ## As governor LeVander took office in 1967 with the support of both houses of the state [[Legislature]].[^1] His inaugural address pledged several things: - attention to urban renewal; - support for the civil rights movement; - higher pay for teachers and other state employees; - more money for highway and hospital improvements.[^1] Minnesota enacted its first sales tax while he was governor. The tax did not apply to food, clothing or medicine.[^1] His administration created three bodies: the Metropolitan Council, the [[Minnesota Pollution Control Agency]] and the Human Rights Department.[^1] The legislature also ratified the Twenty-sixth Amendment, which set the national minimum voting age at 18.[^1] The Revisor's page for Minn. Stat. § 473.123, the council's enabling statute, is linked in the project's claim rows to the May 25, 1967 signing under the Metropolitan Reform Act.[^5] The Legislative Reference Library's record of LeVander lists the same date.[^4] The project's time table cites the Revisor's text and gives the council's membership as 17 appointed and 0 elected. The cited sources do not establish whether that count describes the 1967 council or the statute as it now reads.[^5] The Department of Human Rights traces its creation to the Minnesota Human Rights Act, which LeVander signed in 1967.[^6] According to the master record, the 1994 Reorganization Act later applied the same at-pleasure design to the whole Metropolitan Council.[^7] The project's second document, *The Instrument No One Will Name*, places the two 1967 enactments in a series of instruments signed by Republican governors:[^10] | Year | Governor | Instrument | |---|---|---| | 1962 | Andersen | Fair Housing Act predicate | | 1967 | LeVander | Metropolitan Council and Department of Human Rights | | 1981 | Quie | Chapter 43A | | 1991 | Carlson | Charter-school template | That document cites session laws and the Revisor for the 1962 and 1967 entries.[^10] ## Later life LeVander did not run for a second term in 1970. He went back to practicing law and to his business interests.[^1] He sat on three boards: - The St. Paul Companies, 1973–1981; - the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, 1974–1981; - the Saint Paul Chamber of Commerce, 1975–1978.[^1] He died on March 30, 1992.[^1][^9] ## In the Minnesota record ### Who - Governor LeVander (R) approved Laws 1967 chapters 896 and 897.[^4][^7] - Under the department's founding text, as quoted in the master record, the commissioner of human rights served "at the pleasure of the governor."[^7] ### What - Laws 1967 chapter 896 created the Metropolitan Council, a regional government with a tax levy and governor-appointed, unelected members.[^5][^7] - Laws 1967 chapter 897 created the Department of Human Rights.[^6][^7] ### When - November 8, 1966: LeVander was elected governor.[^1] - May 25, 1967: LeVander approved chapters 896 and 897 on the same day.[^4][^5][^7] - January 14, 2026: the Department of Justice issued release No. 26-21 announcing its lawsuit against Minnesota.[^8] ## Notes [^1]: Wikipedia contributors, *Harold LeVander* (rev. 1370129059, retrieved 2026-10-25) — life dates; term as 32nd governor; 1966 defeat of Rolvaag (the time table dates the election November 8, 1966); background, career, governorship and later life. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harold_LeVander [^2]: Minnesota Legislative Reference Library, *Gov. Harold LeVander* (governor biography) — LeVander's service as governor. https://www.lrl.mn.gov/mngov/govbio?govid=4 [^3]: Minnesota Legislative Reference Library, *Harold LeVander* (governor biography) — LeVander's service as governor. https://www.lrl.mn.gov/mngov/governor?gov=33 [^4]: Minnesota Legislative Reference Library, *Legislators Past & Present: Harold LeVander* — Governor 1967–1971; signed the Metropolitan Reform Act on May 25, 1967. https://www.lrl.mn.gov/legdb/fulldetail?id=10568 [^5]: Minnesota Revisor of Statutes, *Minn. Stat. § 473.123* — Metropolitan Council enabling statute, linked in the project's claim rows to the May 25, 1967 signing by Republican Governor Harold LeVander under the Metropolitan Reform Act; the time table row citing this page gives 17 appointed members and 0 elected. https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/cite/473.123 [^6]: Minnesota Department of Human Rights, *History* — 1967 Minnesota Human Rights Act, signed by LeVander (R), creating the Department of Human Rights. https://mn.gov/mdhr/about/history/index.jsp [^7]: Project record, *How Minnesota Got Here* (merged master, footnoted) — On May 25, 1967, LeVander approved together Laws 1967 ch. 896 (Metropolitan Council) and ch. 897 (Department of Human Rights), which the record reports verifying verbatim against the session-law PDFs. The founding text's at-pleasure clause is quoted there, along with the later application of that design to the Metropolitan Council by the 1994 Reorganization Act. [^8]: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Public Affairs, *United States Department of Justice Files Lawsuit Against Minnesota's 'Affirmative Action' Regime*, release No. 26-21 (Jan. 14, 2026) — the lawsuit announcement; Attorney General Pamela Bondi's certification of general public importance. https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/united-states-department-justice-files-lawsuit-against-minnesotas-affirmative-action-regime [^9]: Minnesota Historical Society, *MNopedia: LeVander, Karl Harold Phillip (1910–1992)* — biographical entry. https://www.mnhs.org/mnopedia/search/index/person/levander-karl-harold-phillip-1910-1992 [^10]: Project record, *The Instrument No One Will Name* (densified, 2026-06-18) — dated sequence of Republican-signed instruments (Andersen 1962; LeVander 1967, Laws 1967 cc. 896/897, "Approved May 25, 1967"; Quie 1981; Carlson 1991), citing revisor.mn.gov and session-law PDFs.