John Marty

John J. Marty (born November 1, 1956) is a member of the Minnesota Senate, representing District 40, which includes parts of Ramsey County in the northern Twin Cities metropolitan area.

John Marty was born in Evanston, Illinois, on November 1, 1956.

He is the son of author and theologian Martin E. Marty.

He attended St. Olaf College, graduating with a BA in ethics in 1978.

In 1979 and 1980 he worked in the DFL Party as a campaign aide and communications director.

He became an administrator and researcher for the Criminal Justice Committee of the Minnesota House of Representatives in 1980, before working as a grant administrator at the Lutheran Brotherhood Foundation for two years beginning in 1985.

After his election to the Minnesota Senate in 1986, Marty became a member of the board of directors of the National Youth Leadership Council.

Marty was elected state senator from District 63 on November 4, 1986, and sworn in on January 6, 1987, for the 75th legislative session.

The 1992 legislative redistricting, in conjunction with the U.S. census, changed Marty's district from 63 to 54.

From 1993 to 1996, he served on the board of Goodwill/Easter Seals Minnesota, a local nonprofit organization.

As a young state senator, he ran for governor of Minnesota in 1994.

He won the DFL nomination and the Democratic primary but lost the general election to the incumbent governor, Arne Carlson.

In 1994, Marty sought to unseat incumbent Republican Governor Arne Carlson.

He was the DFL nominee, winning its primary by two percentage points over former state commerce commissioner and future Attorney General Mike Hatch (the other candidates were Richard T. Van Bergen and former Minneapolis Police Chief Tony Bouza.) Marty's self-imposed campaign finance limits, feasible in his small state senate reelection campaigns, severely handicapped his ability to reach as far as his opponent statewide.

After spending most of his campaign funds on the primary, he lost to Carlson by a nearly two-to-one margin.

Marty was one of seven DFLers who entered the 1998 gubernatorial campaign, but he dropped out of the race without filing for office.

Eventually the party nominated state Attorney General Hubert H. "Skip" Humphrey III.

In an upset, the Reform Party nominee, former professional wrestler Jesse Ventura, won the election.

When the national Democratic Party was picking its 2004 presidential nominee, Marty joined State Senate Majority Leader John Hottinger in endorsing Congressman Dennis Kucinich of Ohio.

On Super Tuesday, Kucinich received 17% of the vote in Minnesota's presidential caucus, one of his best showings that year.

On November 7, 2006, Marty was reelected to a sixth term, winning 62% of the vote and carrying each of the seven suburbs in his district.

On December 22, 2008, Marty announced that he had launched an exploratory campaign for governor after encouragement from health care reformers.

He made a formal announcement several months later.

During the 2008 presidential campaign, Marty was a strong supporter of Barack Obama.

Marty is best known to Minnesota residents as an advocate on environmental issues, health-care reform, and government ethics and campaign-finance reform.

He is the author of the Minnesota Health Plan, a comprehensive single-payer healthcare plan.

Marty ran for governor again in 2010, but withdrew from the race after failing to win his party's endorsement.

As senator, Marty represents Roseville, Arden Hills, Shoreview, New Brighton, and Mounds View.

On February 2, 2010, Marty finished in fourth place in a precinct caucus straw poll with 9.5% of the vote, behind Minneapolis mayor R. T. Rybak and Speaker of the Minnesota House Margaret Anderson Kelliher, who each received more than 20%.

Uncommitted voters came in third, with approximately 14.7%.

On March 31, 2010, Marty announced state senator Patricia Torres Ray as his running mate.

On April 24, 2010, Marty withdrew from the race at the DFL state convention after it became clear he could not win the endorsement.

He gave his support to Kelliher, whom the party endorsed.

The 2012 legislative redistricting changed Marty's district from 54 to 66.

In 2016, he wrote a book, Healing Healthcare, that makes the case for a universal healthcare system.

Marty does not accept soft money contributions or contributions from lobbyists, and sharply limits the contributions he will accept from any one person.

Among Marty's ethics legislation was the Minnesota law banning lobbyists from giving gifts to public officials.

Marty opposes public funding of stadiums and professional sports teams and was outspoken in his criticism of proposals for new stadiums for the Minnesota Twins and Minnesota Vikings.

He also supports medical marijuana, and appeared in the movie Super High Me.

Over the years, Marty has pushed for legislation that was initially dismissed as being politically impossible due to opposition of powerful interest groups, eventually building support and passing legislation several years later.