Paul Utke

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Paul Utke
Image of Paul Utke
Minnesota State Senate District 5
Tenure

2023 - Present

Term ends

2027

Years in position

1

Predecessor
Prior offices
Minnesota State Senate District 2
Successor: Steve Green

Compensation

Base salary

$51,750/year

Per diem

$86/day

Elections and appointments
Last elected

November 8, 2022

Education

High school

Enderlin High School, 1975

Personal
Birthplace
Enderlin, N.D.
Profession
Business owner
Contact

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Paul Utke (Republican Party) is a member of the Minnesota State Senate, representing District 5. He assumed office on January 3, 2023. His current term ends on January 5, 2027.

Utke (Republican Party) ran for re-election to the Minnesota State Senate to represent District 5. He won in the general election on November 8, 2022.

Biography

Paul Utke was born in Enderlin, North Dakota, and lives in Park Rapids, Minnesota. Utke graduated from Enderlin High School in 1975. Utke also studied at the North Dakota State College of Science. Utke's career experience includes working for Mack Truck dealers, owning a small business, as a licensed insurance agent, and as a certified legal videographer. Utke served on the Park Rapids City Council for seven years.[1][2]

Committee assignments

2023-2024

Utke was assigned to the following committees:

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2021-2022

Utke was assigned to the following committees:

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2019-2020

Utke was assigned to the following committees:

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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
Commerce and Consumer Protection
E-12 Education Policy
Human Services Reform, Vice chair
Jobs and Economic Growth

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 5

Incumbent Paul Utke defeated A. John Peters in the general election for Minnesota State Senate District 5 on November 8, 2022.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Paul Utke
Paul Utke (R)
 
72.8
 
28,731
Image of A. John Peters
A. John Peters (D) Candidate Connection
 
27.1
 
10,687
 Other/Write-in votes
 
0.1
 
32

Total votes: 39,450
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.

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Democratic primary election

Democratic primary for Minnesota State Senate District 5

A. John Peters advanced from the Democratic primary for Minnesota State Senate District 5 on August 9, 2022.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of A. John Peters
A. John Peters Candidate Connection
 
100.0
 
2,462

Total votes: 2,462
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.

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Republican primary election

Republican primary for Minnesota State Senate District 5

Incumbent Paul Utke defeated Bret Bussman and Dale A.P. Anderson in the Republican primary for Minnesota State Senate District 5 on August 9, 2022.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Paul Utke
Paul Utke
 
57.3
 
5,027
Image of Bret Bussman
Bret Bussman
 
32.3
 
2,832
Silhouette Placeholder Image.png
Dale A.P. Anderson
 
10.3
 
907

Total votes: 8,766
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.

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Campaign finance

2020

See also: Minnesota State Senate elections, 2020

General election

General election for Minnesota State Senate District 2

Incumbent Paul Utke defeated Alan Roy in the general election for Minnesota State Senate District 2 on November 3, 2020.

Candidate
%
Votes
Image of Paul Utke
Paul Utke (R)
 
65.1
 
28,951
Image of Alan Roy
Alan Roy (D)
 
34.8
 
15,458
 Other/Write-in votes
 
0.1
 
58

Total votes: 44,467
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. Alan Roy advanced from the Democratic primary for Minnesota State Senate District 2.

Republican primary election

The Republican primary election was canceled. Incumbent Paul Utke advanced from the Republican primary for Minnesota State Senate District 2.

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.

Paul Utke defeated incumbent Rod Skoe in the Minnesota State Senate District 2 general election.[3][4]

Minnesota State Senate, District 2 General Election, 2016
Party Candidate Vote % Votes
     Republican Green check mark transparent.png Paul Utke 56.67% 22,232
     Democratic Rod Skoe Incumbent 43.33% 17,002
Total Votes 39,234
Source: Minnesota Secretary of State


Incumbent Rod Skoe ran unopposed in the Minnesota State Senate District 2 Democratic primary.[5][6]

Minnesota State Senate, District 2 Democratic Primary, 2016
Party Candidate
    Democratic Green check mark transparent.png Rod Skoe Incumbent (unopposed)


Paul Utke ran unopposed in the Minnesota State Senate District 2 Republican primary.[5][6]

Minnesota State Senate, District 2 Republican Primary, 2016
Party Candidate
    Republican Green check mark transparent.png Paul Utke  (unopposed)

Campaign themes

2022

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

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

2020

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

2016

Utke's campaign website highlighted the following issues:

Jobs

  • We have burdened our job creators with high taxes and excessive regulations. We must create a business friendly environment so our businesses are able hire employees and pay competitive wages. If Minnesota is to be the best place to live, work and raise a family we must improve our business climate to retain our current businesses and attract new ones. I support tax and regulation reform.

Transportation

  • Our citizens deserve to drive on safe and good quality roads and bridges. They are currently paying the bill but not receiving the services. The Transportation Budget should have dedicated funds so that the Transportation Department knows what it has to work with each year and not rely on the politics of the legislature and bonding proposals. I support having dedicated funds from which to operate the Transportation Department. I do not support a gas tax increase.

Taxes

  • Minnesotans are over taxed. We rate near the bottom in most every category (for being tax friendly) when compared to the other 49 states. Property, sales and income taxation need serious review. I support Tax Reform.

Regulations

  • Our Individual Rights continue to be taken away. We are experiencing government overreach in our businesses, our schools and our personal lives. Property rights are the cornerstone of liberty; they are under siege from all levels of government. I will stand up for Individual Rights and work for agricultural and environmental regulatory reform.

2nd Amendment

  • The right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed. I completely support the Second Amendment with no exceptions.[7]
—Paul Utke[8]

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 Utke campaign contribution history
YearOfficeStatusContributionsExpenditures
2022Minnesota State Senate District 5Won general$58,300 $75,815
2020Minnesota State Senate District 2Won general$54,046 N/A**
2016Minnesota State Senate, District 2Won $30,998 N/A**
Grand total$143,344 $75,815
Sources: OpenSecretsFederal Elections Commission ***This product uses the openFEC API but is not endorsed or certified by the Federal Election Commission (FEC).
** 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 [email protected].


2023


2022


2021


2020


2019


2018


2017





See also


External links

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Footnotes

Political offices
Preceded by
Justin Eichorn (R)
Minnesota State Senate District 5
2023-Present
Succeeded by
-
Preceded by
-
Minnesota State Senate District 2
2017-2023
Succeeded by
Steve Green (R)


Current members of the Minnesota State Senate
Leadership
Senate President:Bobby Champion
Majority Leader:Erin Murphy
Minority Leader:Mark Johnson
Senators
District 1
District 2
District 3
District 4
Rob Kupec (D)
District 5
Paul Utke (R)
District 6
District 7
District 8
District 9
District 10
District 11
District 12
District 13
Jeff Howe (R)
District 14
District 15
District 16
District 17
District 18
District 19
District 20
District 21
District 22
District 23
District 24
District 25
District 26
District 27
District 28
District 29
District 30
District 31
District 32
District 33
District 34
District 35
District 36
District 37
District 38
Susan Pha (D)
District 39
District 40
District 41
District 42
District 43
Ann Rest (D)
District 44
Tou Xiong (D)
District 45
District 46
Ron Latz (D)
District 47
District 48
District 49
District 50
District 51
District 52
District 53
District 54
District 55
District 56
District 57
District 58
District 59
District 60
District 61
District 62
District 63
District 64
District 65
District 66
District 67
Democratic Party (34)
Republican Party (33)