Melissa Halvorson Wiklund
2023 - Present
2027
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Melissa Halvorson Wiklund (Democratic Party) is a member of the Minnesota State Senate, representing District 51. She assumed office on January 3, 2023. Her current term ends on January 5, 2027.
Wiklund (Democratic Party) ran for re-election to the Minnesota State Senate to represent District 51. She won in the general election on November 8, 2022.
Wiklund completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2022. Click here to read the survey answers.
Biography
Melissa Halvorson Wiklund was born in and lives in Bloomington, Minnesota. Wiklund graduated from Kennedy High School in 1980. She earned a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, in 1991. Her career experience includes working for a telecommunications and Internet services company as an engineer, manager, and director. Wiklund was elected to the Bloomington school board, where she served as chair.[1][2]
Committee assignments
2023-2024
Wiklund was assigned to the following committees:
- Senate Commerce and Consumer Protection Finance and Policy Committee
- Finance Committee
- Health and Human Services Finance and Policy Committee, Chair
- Health and Human Services Finance and Policy Committee
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2021-2022
Wiklund was assigned to the following committees:
- Health and Human Services Finance and Policy Committee, Ranking Minority Member
- Human Services Reform Finance and Policy Committee
- Technology and Reform Policy Committee
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2019-2020
Wiklund was assigned to the following committees:
- Senate Commerce and Consumer Protection Finance and Policy Committee
- Health and Human Services Finance and Policy Committee
- Local Government Committee
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2017 legislative session
At the beginning of the 2017 legislative session, this legislator served on the following committees:
| Minnesota committee assignments, 2017 |
|---|
| • E-12 Education Finance |
| • Health and Human Services |
| • Local Government |
2015 legislative session
At the beginning of the 2015 legislative session, Wiklund served on the following committees:
| Minnesota committee assignments, 2015 |
|---|
| • Health, Human Services and Housing, Vice Chair |
| • Education |
| • State and Local Government |
2013-2014
At the beginning of the 2013 legislative session, Wiklund served on the following committees:
| Minnesota committee assignments, 2013 |
|---|
| • Education |
| • Health, Human Services and Housing, Vice chair |
| • State and Local Government |
Sponsored legislation
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
2022
See also: Minnesota State Senate elections, 2022
General election
General election for Minnesota State Senate District 51
Incumbent Melissa Halvorson Wiklund defeated Frank Pafko in the general election for Minnesota State Senate District 51 on November 8, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Melissa Halvorson Wiklund (D)  | 69.6 | 23,141 |
 | Frank Pafko (R) | 30.2 | 10,049 | |
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.1 | 38 | ||
| Total votes: 33,228 | |||
| = 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. Incumbent Melissa Halvorson Wiklund advanced from the Democratic primary for Minnesota State Senate District 51.
Republican primary election
The Republican primary election was canceled. Frank Pafko advanced from the Republican primary for Minnesota State Senate District 51.
Campaign finance
2020
See also: Minnesota State Senate elections, 2020
General election
General election for Minnesota State Senate District 50
Incumbent Melissa Halvorson Wiklund defeated Dean Mumbleau in the general election for Minnesota State Senate District 50 on November 3, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Melissa Halvorson Wiklund (D) | 66.6 | 30,516 |
 | Dean Mumbleau (R) | 33.3 | 15,243 | |
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.1 | 49 | ||
| Total votes: 45,808 | |||
| = 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. Incumbent Melissa Halvorson Wiklund advanced from the Democratic primary for Minnesota State Senate District 50.
Republican primary election
The Republican primary election was canceled. Dean Mumbleau advanced from the Republican primary for Minnesota State Senate District 50.
Campaign finance
2016
- See also: Minnesota State Senate elections, 2016
Elections for the Minnesota State Senate 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 Melissa Halvorson Wiklund defeated Kirsten Johnson in the Minnesota State Senate District 50 general election.[3][4]
| Minnesota State Senate, District 50 General Election, 2016 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Democratic |  Melissa Halvorson Wiklund Incumbent |
59.73% | 24,921 | |
| Republican | Kirsten Johnson | 40.27% | 16,805 | |
| Total Votes | 41,726 | |||
| Source: Minnesota Secretary of State | ||||
Incumbent Melissa Halvorson Wiklund ran unopposed in the Minnesota State Senate District 50 Democratic primary.[5][6]
| Minnesota State Senate, District 50 Democratic Primary, 2016 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | |
| Democratic | Melissa Halvorson Wiklund Incumbent (unopposed) | |
Kirsten Johnson ran unopposed in the Minnesota State Senate District 50 Republican primary.[5][6]
| Minnesota State Senate, District 50 Republican Primary, 2016 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | |
| Republican | Kirsten Johnson (unopposed) | |
2012
- See also: Minnesota State Senate elections, 2012
Wiklund won election in the 2012 election for Minnesota State Senate District 50. She ran unopposed in the Democratic primary on August 14 and defeated Vern Wilcox (R) in the general election on November 6, 2012.[7][8]
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Melissa Halvorson Wiklund |
61% | 25,300 | |
| Republican | Vern Wilcox | 39% | 16,193 | |
| Total Votes | 41,493 | |||
Campaign themes
2022
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Melissa Halvorson Wiklund completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2022. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Wiklund's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.
| Collapse all
I am a state senator representing Bloomington and Richfield in the Minnesota Senate. I am running for election to a new district configuration that will include part of Bloomington, all of Richfield and a part of Minneapolis. I am seeking election to continue my work in the Minnesota Senate because I wish to continue to work on behalf of my constituents to find solutions on the issues that matter to them. I am currently the DFL lead member on the Health and Human Services Committee and have also used my background and degree in Electrical Engineering to work on state IT and cybersecurity issues. I am focused on responding to issues constituents face in accessing state programs and take their ideas forward through legislation. I look forward to hearing from residents as I campaign for election in November!
- I work hard to address Minnesotans' access to affordable health care. I will continue to work to ensure women have the right to access abortion care and reproductive health care.
- I have been a champion for finding ways to lower prescription drug costs. I was an author of the Alec Smith Insulin Affordability Act in 2020 which has provided a way for people with diabetes to access insulin in emergency situations.
- I have been a advocate for strong public schools and will continue to fight for full funding. I am also working on creating a better early childhood care and education system where parents have access to affordable child care and providers earn a living wage doing this important work.
* health and human services
- early childhood care and education and E-12 education
- addressing climate change
- passing gun violence prevention legislation
- keeping our state protected from cyber attacks
Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.
2020
Melissa Halvorson Wiklund did not complete Ballotpedia's 2020 Candidate Connection survey.
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.
Scorecards
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 [email protected].
2023
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2023, click [show]. |
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In 2023, the Minnesota State Legislature was in session from January 3 to May 22.
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2022
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2022, click [show]. |
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In 2022, the Minnesota State Legislature was in session from January 31 to May 23.
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2021
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2021, click [show]. |
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In 2021, the Minnesota State Legislature was in session from January 5 to May 17.
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2020
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2020, click [show]. |
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In 2020, the Minnesota State Legislature was in session from February 11 to May 17. Special sessions were convened: June 12 to June 19; July 13 to July 21; August 12; September 11; October 12 to October 15; and November 12.
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2019
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2019, click [show]. |
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In 2019, the Minnesota State Legislature was in session from January 8 through May 20.
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2018
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2018, click [show]. |
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In 2018, the Minnesota State Legislature was in session from February 20 through May 21.
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2017
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2017, click [show]. |
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In 2017, the Minnesota State Legislature was in session from January 3 through May 22. The legislature held a special session from May 23 to May 26.
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2016
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2016, click [show]. |
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In 2016, the Minnesota State Legislature was in session from March 8 through May 23.
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2015
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2015, click [show]. |
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In 2015, the Minnesota State Legislature was in session from January 6 through May 18.
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2014
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2014, click [show]. |
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In 2014, the Minnesota State Legislature was in session from February 25 to May 19.
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2013
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2013, click [show]. |
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In 2013, the Minnesota State Legislature was in session from January 8 to May 20.
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See also
2022 Elections
External links
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Candidate Minnesota State Senate District 51 |
Officeholder Minnesota State Senate District 51 |
Personal |
Footnotes
- ↑ Facebook, "Melissa Halvorson Wiklund," accessed March 30, 2023
- ↑ Melissa Halvorson Wiklund 2022 campaign website, "About," accessed March 30, 2023
- ↑ Minnesota Secretary of State, "Candidate Filing Search," accessed August 25, 2016
- ↑ Minnesota Secretary of State, "General election results, 2016," accessed December 19, 2016
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Minnesota Secretary of State, "Candidate Filings," accessed June 3, 2016
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Minnesota Secretary of State, "Minnesota State Primary: Tuesday, August 9, 2016," accessed August 9, 2016
- ↑ Minnesota Secretary of State, "2012 State General Election Candidate Filings," accessed June 25, 2012
- ↑ Minnesota Secretary of State, "Minnesota State Canvassing Report - State Primary - Tuesday, August 14, 2012," accessed April 23, 2014
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Jim Carlson (D) |
Minnesota State Senate District 51 2023-Present |
Succeeded by - |
| Preceded by - |
Minnesota State Senate District 50 2013-2023 |
Succeeded by Alice Mann (D) |
