Meet Heather

Heather was born and raised in a small town in central Minnesota, much like her current home of Vadnais Heights, it was a community where neighbors look out for one another, celebrate together, and grieve together. The daughter of a Catholic preschool teacher and a business manager, and the granddaughter of a Navy veteran and Iowa farmers, she grew up on stories of hard work and sacrifice to support family and community.

She attended Minnesota State University Moorhead, majoring in Mass Communication, and began a 14-year career in radio broadcasting. Later, she earned her teaching license and a master’s degree in Education from the College of Saint Scholastica. Most of her teaching career was spent at the high school in the Centennial School District, where her family joined her for school events and community volunteering. Until the start of the 2023 legislative session, Heather taught high school history, an experience she now brings to her role as vice chair of the Senate Education Finance Committee.

As a lawmaker, Heather has authored landmark legislation. She was the chief author of the first-of-its-kind $300 million public safety package, sending direct funding to every city, county, and Tribal Nation in Minnesota. She also wrote and passed the state’s most significant anti-fraud reform in history, creating an independent Office of Inspector General to protect taxpayer dollars. Heather authored the bill that gives every student a breakfast and lunch at school, saving the average family in her district around $1800 per year in groceries. She championed historic school funding, helped secure tax relief for seniors by reducing the Social Security tax, strengthened teacher pensions, and protected clean water and family farms. Her reputation for working across the aisle is well documented with over 70% of her bills being bipartisan.

Her leadership has been recognized with statewide honors, including the League of Minnesota Cities’ Legislator of Distinction, Minnesota Cities Small City Champion, the Clean Water Champion Award, the Minnesota Farmers Union’s Family Farm Champion, and an honorary degree from the Minnesota Agricultural Education Leadership Council.

Heather and her husband are the proud parents of four children and several rescue pets. Any time off is usually spent visting the kids at college or a quiet weekend at their hunting cabin. At her core, she’s still that small-town Minnesota kid who loves her family, enjoys meeting new people, and lending a hand whenever she can.