Steve Cwodzinski
2023 - Present
2027
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Steve Cwodzinski (Democratic Party) is a member of the Minnesota State Senate, representing District 49. He assumed office on January 3, 2023. His current term ends on January 5, 2027.
Cwodzinski (Democratic Party) ran for re-election to the Minnesota State Senate to represent District 49. He won in the general election on November 8, 2022.
Cwodzinski completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2022. Click here to read the survey answers.
Biography
Steve Cwodzinski was born in Superior, Wisconsin, and lives in Minnesota. Cwodzinski graduated from Superior Senior High School. Cwodzinski earned a graduate degree from the University of Minnesota. His career experience includes working as a teacher at Eden Prairie High School.[1][2]
Committee assignments
2023-2024
Cwodzinski was assigned to the following committees:
- Education Finance and Policy Committee
- Education Finance and Policy Committee, Chair
- State Government Finance and Policy and Elections Committee
- Local Government Committee
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2021-2022
Cwodzinski was assigned to the following committees:
- Education Finance and Policy Committee
- Environment and Natural Resources Policy and Legacy Finance Committee
- Local Government Policy Committee, Ranking Minority Member
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2019-2020
Cwodzinski was assigned to the following committees:
- Environment and Natural Resources Policy and Legacy Finance Committee
- Veterans and Military Affairs Finance and Policy Committee
- E-12 Finance and Policy 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 Policy |
| • Environment and Natural Resources Policy |
| • Veterans and Military Affairs |
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 49
Incumbent Steve Cwodzinski defeated Marla Helseth in the general election for Minnesota State Senate District 49 on November 8, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Steve Cwodzinski (D)  | 62.3 | 26,448 |
 | Marla Helseth (R) | 37.7 | 15,998 | |
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.1 | 23 | ||
| Total votes: 42,469 | |||
| = 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 Steve Cwodzinski advanced from the Democratic primary for Minnesota State Senate District 49.
Republican primary election
The Republican primary election was canceled. Marla Helseth advanced from the Republican primary for Minnesota State Senate District 49.
Campaign finance
2020
See also: Minnesota State Senate elections, 2020
General election
General election for Minnesota State Senate District 48
Incumbent Steve Cwodzinski defeated Jeff Jiang in the general election for Minnesota State Senate District 48 on November 3, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Steve Cwodzinski (D) | 58.2 | 29,985 |
 | Jeff Jiang (R) | 41.8 | 21,558 | |
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.0 | 21 | ||
| Total votes: 51,564 | |||
| = 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 Steve Cwodzinski advanced from the Democratic primary for Minnesota State Senate District 48.
Republican primary election
The Republican primary election was canceled. Jeff Jiang advanced from the Republican primary for Minnesota State Senate District 48.
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.
Steve Cwodzinski defeated incumbent David Hann in the Minnesota State Senate District 48 general election.[3][4]
| Minnesota State Senate, District 48 General Election, 2016 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Democratic |  Steve Cwodzinski |
51.16% | 24,303 | |
| Republican | David Hann Incumbent | 48.84% | 23,205 | |
| Total Votes | 47,508 | |||
| Source: Minnesota Secretary of State | ||||
Steve Cwodzinski ran unopposed in the Minnesota State Senate District 48 Democratic primary.[5][6]
| Minnesota State Senate, District 48 Democratic Primary, 2016 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | |
| Democratic | Steve Cwodzinski (unopposed) | |
Incumbent David Hann ran unopposed in the Minnesota State Senate District 48 Republican primary.[5][6]
| Minnesota State Senate, District 48 Republican Primary, 2016 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | |
| Republican | David Hann Incumbent (unopposed) | |
Endorsements
In 2016, Cwodzinski's endorsements included the following:[7]
- Vice President Walter Mondale
- Governor Arne Carlson
- Sen. Scott Dibble, D, SD61
- Mike Freeman, Hennepin County Attorney
- Laurie McKendry, Business Consultant and 2012 member-elect of the State Senate
- Ron Case, Eden Prairie City Council, 2010 member-elect of the State Senate
- Carol Bomben, former Eden Prairie School Board Chair and former member-elect of the State Senate
- Nancy Tyra-Lukens, Mayor of Eden Prairie
- Clean Water Action
- Minnesota AFL-CIO
- Conservation Minnesota
- Minneapolis Star Tribune
Campaign themes
2022
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Steve Cwodzinski completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2022. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Cwodzinski's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.
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During my 31 years teaching American Government and Civics at Eden Prairie High School I taught over 12,000 students about the importance of our democracy. I have spent more time in the classroom than any legislator in Minnesota history and I know what our kids need in order to succeed. While in the Senate, I have worked across the aisle to pass bills that just make sense like the Veterans Stable Housing initiative and the Responsible screen use in school for 0-5 year olds bill. I’m committed to investing in our future generations to create a bright future where everyone can succeed.
- Strong Schools - We need an educated populace to solve the problems of the future and to bring back education funding to 2003 levels before it was slashed and index it to inflation. When districts don’t have to deal with inconsistent and inadequate funding they can better focus on creating the next entrepreneurs, innovators, and public servants.
- Safe Communities - Everyone deserves to feel safe in their community. We need a holistic approach to safe communities, which starts with reducing gun violence, supporting local law enforcement, and increasing opportunities for at-risk youth.
- Healthy planet - Taking steps to mitigate climate change and protect our natural resources here in Minnesota is important because if we don’t act now it will be too late. We need to move towards being a clean energy economy by tearing down barriers to accessing more electric cars, public transit, and clean energy.
Public Education Policy is the biggest policy area that I am passionate about, but I also am passionate about public policy areas where we can uphold other public servants that are committed to serving our communities. For example, I passed the Veterans Stable Housing initiative, and co-authored the Hometown Heroes Assistance Program as well as the Veterans Restorative Justice Act.
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
Steve Cwodzinski did not complete Ballotpedia's 2020 Candidate Connection survey.
2016
Cwodzinski's campaign website highlighted the following issues:
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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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See also
2022 Elections
External links
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Candidate Minnesota State Senate District 49 |
Officeholder Minnesota State Senate District 49 |
Personal |
Footnotes
- ↑ Steve Cwodzinski 2022 campaign website, "About," accessed March 30, 2023
- ↑ Facebook, "Steve Cwodzinski," 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
- ↑ Cwodzinski for Senate, "Endorsements," accessed September 21, 2016
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ Cwodzinski for Senate, "Issues," accessed September 21, 2016
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Melisa Franzen (D) |
Minnesota State Senate District 49 2023-Present |
Succeeded by - |
| Preceded by - |
Minnesota State Senate District 48 2017-2023 |
Succeeded by Julia Coleman (R) |
