Paul Torkelson

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Paul Torkelson
Image of Paul Torkelson

Republican Party

Minnesota House of Representatives District 15B
Tenure

2023 - Present

Term ends

2027

Years in position

2

Predecessor
Prior offices
Minnesota House of Representatives District 16B
Successor: Dave Baker

Compensation

Base salary

$51,750/year

Per diem

$66/day

Elections and appointments
Last elected

November 5, 2024

Education

Bachelor's

Gustavus Adolphus College, 1974

Personal
Religion
Christian: Lutheran
Profession
Farmer
Contact

Official website

Campaign website

Campaign Facebook

Campaign Twitter

Personal Facebook

Personal Instagram

Personal LinkedIn

Paul Torkelson (Republican Party) is a member of the Minnesota House of Representatives, representing District 15B. He assumed office on January 3, 2023. His current term ends on January 12, 2027.

Torkelson (Republican Party) ran for re-election to the Minnesota House of Representatives to represent District 15B. He won in the general election on November 5, 2024.

Biography

Paul Torkelson earned a B.A. in education from Gustavus Adolphus College in 1974. Torkelson's career experience includes working as a farmer.[1] He served as the vice president of the Minnesota Farm Bureau.[1][2]

Committee assignments

Note: This membership information was last updated in September 2023. Ballotpedia completes biannual updates of committee membership. If you would like to send us an update, email us at:editor@ballotpedia.org.

2023-2024

Torkelson was assigned to the following committees:

2021-2022

Torkelson was assigned to the following committees:

2019-2020

Torkelson was assigned to the following committees:

2017 legislative session

At the beginning of the 2017 legislative session, this legislator served on the following committees:

Minnesota committee assignments, 2017
• Environment and Natural Resources
• Ethics
• Legacy Funding
• Transportation, Chair
• Ways and Means

2015 legislative session

At the beginning of the 2015 legislative session, Torkelson served on the following committees:

2013-2014

At the beginning of the 2013 legislative session, Torkelson served on the following committees:

Minnesota committee assignments, 2013
• Environment, Natural Resources and Agriculture Finance
• Legacy
• Rules and Legislative Administration

2011-2012

In the 2011-2012 legislative session, Torkelson served on the following committees:

2009-2010

In the 2009-2010 legislative session, Torkelson served on the following committees:

The following table lists bills this person sponsored as a legislator, according to BillTrack50 and sorted by action history. Bills are sorted by the date of their last action. The following list may not be comprehensive. To see all bills this legislator sponsored, click on the legislator's name in the title of the table.


Elections

2024

See also: Minnesota House of Representatives elections, 2024

General election

General election for Minnesota House of Representatives District 15B

Incumbent Paul Torkelson defeated Tom Kuster in the general election for Minnesota House of Representatives District 15B on November 5, 2024.

Candidate
%
Votes
✔
Image of Paul Torkelson
Paul Torkelson (R)
 
72.7
 
16,814
Image of Tom Kuster
Tom Kuster (D)
 
27.3
 
6,315
 Other/Write-in votes
 
0.1
 
14

Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source

Total votes: 23,143
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Democratic primary election

The Democratic primary election was canceled. Tom Kuster advanced from the Democratic primary for Minnesota House of Representatives District 15B.

Republican primary election

The Republican primary election was canceled. Incumbent Paul Torkelson advanced from the Republican primary for Minnesota House of Representatives District 15B.

Campaign finance

Endorsements

Ballotpedia did not identify endorsements for Torkelson in this election.

2022

See also: Minnesota House of Representatives elections, 2022

General election

General election for Minnesota House of Representatives District 15B

Incumbent Paul Torkelson defeated Tom Kuster in the general election for Minnesota House of Representatives District 15B on November 8, 2022.

Candidate
%
Votes
✔
Image of Paul Torkelson
Paul Torkelson (R)
 
72.6
 
13,444
Image of Tom Kuster
Tom Kuster (D) Candidate Connection
 
27.4
 
5,075
 Other/Write-in votes
 
0.1
 
10

Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source

Total votes: 18,529
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Democratic primary election

The Democratic primary election was canceled. Tom Kuster advanced from the Democratic primary for Minnesota House of Representatives District 15B.

Republican primary election

The Republican primary election was canceled. Incumbent Paul Torkelson advanced from the Republican primary for Minnesota House of Representatives District 15B.

2020

See also: Minnesota House of Representatives elections, 2020

General election

General election for Minnesota House of Representatives District 16B

Incumbent Paul Torkelson defeated Marinda Kimmel in the general election for Minnesota House of Representatives District 16B on November 3, 2020.

Candidate
%
Votes
✔
Image of Paul Torkelson
Paul Torkelson (R)
 
67.6
 
14,476
Image of Marinda Kimmel
Marinda Kimmel (D)
 
32.3
 
6,908
 Other/Write-in votes
 
0.1
 
28

Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source

Total votes: 21,412
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Minnesota House of Representatives District 16B

Marinda Kimmel advanced from the Democratic primary for Minnesota House of Representatives District 16B on August 11, 2020.

Candidate
%
Votes
✔
Image of Marinda Kimmel
Marinda Kimmel
 
100.0
 
1,953

There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source

Total votes: 1,953
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Republican primary election

Republican primary for Minnesota House of Representatives District 16B

Incumbent Paul Torkelson defeated Tamara Houle in the Republican primary for Minnesota House of Representatives District 16B on August 11, 2020.

Candidate
%
Votes
✔
Image of Paul Torkelson
Paul Torkelson
 
78.8
 
2,621
Silhouette Placeholder Image.png
Submit photo
Tamara Houle
 
21.2
 
704

Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source

Total votes: 3,325
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Campaign finance

2018

See also: Minnesota House of Representatives elections, 2018

General election

General election for Minnesota House of Representatives District 16B

Incumbent Paul Torkelson defeated Marinda Kimmel in the general election for Minnesota House of Representatives District 16B on November 6, 2018.

Candidate
%
Votes
✔
Image of Paul Torkelson
Paul Torkelson (R)
 
63.2
 
10,772
Image of Marinda Kimmel
Marinda Kimmel (D) Candidate Connection
 
36.8
 
6,268
 Other/Write-in votes
 
0.0
 
5

Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source

Total votes: 17,045
(100.00% precincts reporting)
Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Minnesota House of Representatives District 16B

Marinda Kimmel advanced from the Democratic primary for Minnesota House of Representatives District 16B on August 14, 2018.

Candidate
✔
Image of Marinda Kimmel
Marinda Kimmel Candidate Connection

There were no incumbents in this race. The results have been certified. Source

Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Republican primary election

Republican primary for Minnesota House of Representatives District 16B

Incumbent Paul Torkelson advanced from the Republican primary for Minnesota House of Representatives District 16B on August 14, 2018.

Candidate
✔
Image of Paul Torkelson
Paul Torkelson

Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source

Candidate Connection = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.

Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

2016

See also: Minnesota House of Representatives elections, 2016

Elections for the Minnesota House of Representatives took place in 2016. The primary election took place on August 9, 2016, and the general election was held on November 8, 2016. The candidate filing deadline was May 31, 2016.

Incumbent Paul Torkelson defeated Austin Grossenburg in the Minnesota House of Representatives District 16B general election.[3][4]

Minnesota House of Representatives, District 16B General Election, 2016
Party Candidate Vote % Votes
     Republican Green check mark transparent.png Paul Torkelson Incumbent 73.15% 14,529
     Democratic Austin Grossenburg 26.85% 5,333
Total Votes 19,862
Source: Minnesota Secretary of State


Austin Grossenburg ran unopposed in the Minnesota House of Representatives District 16B Democratic primary.[5][6]

Minnesota House of Representatives, District 16B Democratic Primary, 2016
Party Candidate
    Democratic Green check mark transparent.png Austin Grossenburg  (unopposed)


Incumbent Paul Torkelson ran unopposed in the Minnesota House of Representatives District 16B Republican primary.[5][6]

Minnesota House of Representatives, District 16B Republican Primary, 2016
Party Candidate
    Republican Green check mark transparent.png Paul Torkelson Incumbent (unopposed)

2014

See also: Minnesota House of Representatives elections, 2014

Elections for the Minnesota House of Representatives took place in 2014. A primary election was held on August 12, 2014, and a general election took place on November 4, 2014. The signature filing deadline for candidates wishing to run in this election was June 3, 2014. James Kanne was unopposed in the Democratic primary. Incumbent Paul Torkelson was unopposed in the Republican primary. Torkelson defeated Kanne in the general election.[7][8][9]

Minnesota House of Representatives, District 16B General Election, 2014
Party Candidate Vote % Votes
     Republican Green check mark transparent.pngPaul Torkelson Incumbent 64.9% 9,053
     Democratic James Kanne 34.9% 4,872
     Write-in Write-in 0.1% 16
Total Votes 13,941

2012

See also: Minnesota House of Representatives elections, 2012

Torkelson won re-election in the 2012 election for Minnesota House of Representatives District 16B. He was unopposed in the Republican primary on August 14 and defeated James Kanne (D) and Pike Pagel (I) in the general election on November 6, 2012.[10]

Minnesota House of Representatives, District 16B, General Election, 2012
Party Candidate Vote % Votes
     Republican Green check mark transparent.pngPaul Torkelson Incumbent 56.2% 11,243
     Democratic James Kanne 32.3% 6,466
     Independent Pike Pagel 11.5% 2,303
Total Votes 20,012

2010

See also: Minnesota House of Representatives elections, 2010

Torkelson won re-election to the District 21B seat in 2010. He was unopposed in the August 10 primary. He also faced no opposition in the general election on November 2, 2010.[11]

Minnesota House of Representatives, District 21B (2010)
Candidates Votes Percent
Paul Torkelson (DFL) 11,774 98.31%
Write-In 203 1.69%

2008

On November 4, 2008, Torkelson won election to the District 21B Seat in the Minnesota House of Representatives, defeating Robert Skillings. [12]

Torkelson raised $33,638 for his campaign.[13]

Minnesota House of Representatives, District 21B (2008)
Candidates Votes Percent
Green check mark transparent.png Paul Torkelson (R) 9,111 51.43%
Robert Skillings (DFL) 8,586 48.47%
Write-In 17 0.10%

Campaign themes

2024

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Paul Torkelson did not complete Ballotpedia's 2024 Candidate Connection survey.

2022

Paul Torkelson did not complete Ballotpedia's 2022 Candidate Connection survey.

2020

Paul Torkelson did not complete Ballotpedia's 2020 Candidate Connection survey.

2012

Torkelson's website highlighted the following campaign themes:[14]

The Economy

  • Excerpt: "Jobs in the private sector are the backbone of our economy. Our government must maintain an economic and regulatory climate where businesses large and small are allowed to thrive."

Education

  • Excerpt: "Paul firmly believes that what is best for the students should be our first priority and that local control is an important ingredient for success."

Agriculture

  • Excerpt: "He understands that it is the strong ag economy that has been critical in supporting our state's economy in the economic downturn. Agriculture is especially important to rural Minnesota and Paul is actively engaged in a variety of issues and doing his best to support producers large and small."

Life Issues

  • Excerpt: "Paul has consistently supported the pro-life agenda by cosponsoring and voting for legislation that would strengthen protection of the unborn."

Voter ID

  • Excerpt: "Proving with a photo ID at the polling place that you are who you say you are and that you live where you say live is the best way to protect the integrity of our election system."

Campaign finance summary

Note: The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may represent only a portion of all the funds spent on their behalf. Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer. Campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at the FEC website. Click here for more on federal campaign finance law and here for more on state campaign finance law.

Paul Torkelson campaign contribution history
YearOfficeStatusContributionsExpenditures
2024* Minnesota House of Representatives District 15BWon general$33,740 $24,396
2022Minnesota House of Representatives District 15BWon general$40,240 $38,556
2020Minnesota House of Representatives District 16BWon general$37,433 N/A**
2018Minnesota House of Representatives District 16BWon general$52,665 N/A**
2016Minnesota House of Representatives, District 16bWon $45,477 N/A**
2014Minnesota House of Representatives, District 16bWon $43,544 N/A**
2012Minnesota State House, District 16BWon $35,958 N/A**
2010Minnesota State House, District 21BWon $15,600 N/A**
2008Minnesota State House, District 21BWon $33,638 N/A**
** Data on expenditures is not available for this election cycle
Note: Totals above reflect only available data.

Scorecards

See also: State legislative scorecards and State legislative scorecards in Minnesota

A scorecard evaluates a legislator’s voting record. Its purpose is to inform voters about the legislator’s political positions. Because scorecards have varying purposes and methodologies, each report should be considered on its own merits. For example, an advocacy group’s scorecard may assess a legislator’s voting record on one issue while a state newspaper’s scorecard may evaluate the voting record in its entirety.

Ballotpedia is in the process of developing an encyclopedic list of published scorecards. Some states have a limited number of available scorecards or scorecards produced only by select groups. It is Ballotpedia’s goal to incorporate all available scorecards regardless of ideology or number.

Click here for an overview of legislative scorecards in all 50 states.  To contribute to the list of Minnesota scorecards, email suggestions to editor@ballotpedia.org.


2024


2023


2022


2021


2020


2019


2018


2017


2016


2015


2014


2013


2012


2011

Personal

Note: Please contact us if the personal information below requires an update.
Torkelson is married with two children. He has been a member of the Minnesota's Deer Hunters Association, Saint James Lions Club, and Governor Tim Pawlenty's Clean Water Council.

See also

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External links

Candidate

Minnesota House of Representatives District 15B
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    Officeholder

    Minnesota House of Representatives District 15B
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    Footnotes

    1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 LinkedIn, "Paul Torkelson," accessed April 23, 2023
    2. ↑ Minnesota House of Representatives, "Rep. Paul Torkelson," accessed April 23, 2023
    3. ↑ Minnesota Secretary of State, "Candidate Filing Search," accessed August 25, 2016
    4. ↑ Minnesota Secretary of State, "General election results, 2016," accessed December 19, 2016
    5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Minnesota Secretary of State, "Candidate Filings," accessed June 3, 2016
    6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Minnesota Secretary of State, "Minnesota State Primary: Tuesday, August 9, 2016," accessed August 9, 2016
    7. ↑ Minnesota Secretary of State, "2014 general election results," accessed November 5, 2014
    8. ↑ Minnesota Secretary of State, "State Canvassing Board Report," August 19, 2014
    9. ↑ Minnesota Secretary of State, "2014 State General Election Candidate Filings," accessed July 25, 2014
    10. ↑ Minnesota Secretary of State, "2012 State General Election Candidate Filings," accessed June 18, 2012
    11. ↑ Minnesota Secretary of State, "2010 Election Results," accessed March 9, 2014
    12. ↑ Minnesota Secretary of State, "All Races by Legislative District," accessed April 23, 2014
    13. ↑ Follow the Money's report on Torkelson's 2008 campaign contributions
    14. ↑ "paultorkelson," Official Campaign Website

    Political offices
    Preceded by
    Shane Mekeland (R)     		Minnesota House of Representatives District 15B
    2023-Present    		 Succeeded by
    -
    Preceded by
    -     		Minnesota House of Representatives District 16B
    2009-2023    		 Succeeded by
    Dave Baker (R)


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