# Karin Housley *American politician; Republican member of the Minnesota Senate, District 33* Karin Housley (née Locke; born January 20, 1964) is a Republican state senator who has held the District 33 seat in the [[Minnesota Senate]] since 2013. Her district takes in Forest Lake, [[Stillwater]] and the nearby St. Croix Valley.[^1] In 2018 she won the Republican primary for the [[United States Senate]] seat in [[Minnesota]] that Al Franken had vacated. She then lost the special general election to [[Tina Smith]].[^1][^2] During that campaign she was criticized over a 2009 Facebook post.[^2] ## Early life, education, and career A native of South St. Paul, Minnesota, Housley finished South St. Paul High School in 1982. She spent a short time at Augsburg College. She then relocated to [[Buffalo]], New York, when the Buffalo Sabres drafted Phil Housley, whom she had dated in high school. She earned a B.A. in communication studies from the State University of New York at Buffalo in 1987. She was a news producer at WGRZ and WKBW in Buffalo through 1991.[^3] ## Minnesota Senate Housley took her Senate seat in 2013 and represents Forest Lake, Stillwater and communities along the St. Croix Valley. The Wikipedia summary of her legislative work centers on aging, long-term care and veterans' matters. She helped establish the Senate's first committee on aging and served as its chair.[^4] In 2019 she authored legislation that extended enhanced protections, for the first time in Minnesota, to elderly and vulnerable adults in senior care facilities and licensed assisted living facilities. Senate colleagues chose her as an assistant majority leader in the 91st and 92nd sessions of the [[Minnesota Legislature]].[^4] ## Political campaigns Housley's first bid for office came in 2010. She ran for the Minnesota Senate that year and lost by a narrow margin to the DFL incumbent, Katie Sieben. Redistricting then moved her home into a different district, where she won a Senate seat in 2012 by a 1 percent margin. Her 2016 reelection margin exceeded 20 points, and she was returned again in 2020 and 2022.[^2] In 2014 Scott Honour, an Orono businessman seeking the Republican nomination for [[governor]], chose Housley as his running mate for [[Lieutenant Governor of Minnesota]]. The pair lost the 2014 Republican primary to Jeff Johnson.[^2] In December 2017 Housley entered the race for the Republican nomination in the 2018 special election for the U.S. Senate. Al Franken had left the seat, resigning amid allegations of sexual misconduct. Governor [[Mark Dayton]] named Lieutenant Governor Tina Smith to the vacancy, and Smith then declared her candidacy for the seat. Housley won the Republican primary by a comfortable margin and was defeated by Smith in the general election.[^2] During the campaign, Housley faced criticism over a Facebook post from 2009. In it she likened the posture of Michelle Obama, then First Lady, to the chimpanzee in *Bedtime for Bonzo*.[^2] The [[Star Tribune]] covered the post's re-emergence in a piece catalogued as *Housley blew a chance*.[^5] In March 2019 Housley registered a political action committee to support conservative candidates in Minnesota. The filing prompted speculation that she would seek the same U.S. Senate seat in 2020. She chose instead to run for reelection to the state Senate.[^2] ## Personal life Phil Housley played in the National Hockey League. During his career the family lived in Buffalo, Winnipeg, St. Louis, Calgary, New Jersey, Washington, D.C., Chicago, Toronto and [[Phoenix]]. They returned to Minnesota in 2003.[^6] The couple has four children, each a graduate of Stillwater Area High School, and four grandchildren. They live in Stillwater, where Housley runs a real estate business. She is a Lutheran.[^6] ## Notes [^1]: Wikipedia, *Karin Housley*, lead section (revision 1365664638, retrieved 2026-10-26) — birth date, birth name, party, Senate district and tenure, area represented, 2018 special-election result. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karin_Housley [^2]: Wikipedia, *Karin Housley*, "Political campaigns" (revision 1365664638, retrieved 2026-10-26) — 2010, 2012, 2016, 2020 and 2022 Senate races; 2014 lieutenant-governor bid; 2018 U.S. Senate race and Franken vacancy; 2009 Facebook post criticism; March 2019 PAC registration. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karin_Housley [^3]: Wikipedia, *Karin Housley*, "Early life, education, and career" (revision 1365664638, retrieved 2026-10-26) — birthplace, schooling, degree, news-producer work to 1991. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karin_Housley [^4]: Wikipedia, *Karin Housley*, "Minnesota Senate" (revision 1365664638, retrieved 2026-10-26) — committee on aging, 2019 elder-protection legislation, assistant majority leader in the 91st and 92nd sessions. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karin_Housley [^5]: Star Tribune, *Housley blew a chance* (undated in pack) — the paper covered the re-emergence of the Facebook post; pack carries title and URL only. https://www.startribune.com/karin-housley-blew-a-chance-when-facebook-hot-take-re-emerged/497755161/ [^6]: Wikipedia, *Karin Housley*, "Personal life" (revision 1365664638, retrieved 2026-10-26) — residences during NHL career, 2003 return, children, grandchildren, residence, business, religion. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karin_Housley