Kurt Bills

Kurt P. Bills (born January 8, 1970) is an American teacher. He has taught and coached high school since 1994. He served on the Rosemount City Council from 2008 to 2010, receiving the most votes out of a 26-person field without posting a single yard sign. He then served in the Minnesota House of Representatives from 2011 to 2012. In 2012, he received the Republican nomination for United States Senate and ran against Democratic incumbent Amy Klobuchar. Klobuchar was reelected by a margin of 35%.[1] Bills never left the classroom during his stint in politics, choosing to teach at least one class even while running a statewide race.

Kurt Bills
Member of the Minnesota House of Representatives
from the 37B district
In office
January 4, 2011 – January 7, 2013
Preceded byPhil Sterner
Succeeded byNolan West
Personal details
Born (1970-01-08) January 8, 1970
Sauk Prairie, Wisconsin, U.S.
Political partyRepublican
Spouse(s)Cindy Bills
Children4
EducationWinona State University (BA, MA)

Early life, education, and early career

Bills attended Winona State University earning a B.S. in secondary social studies education, B.A. in US history, and M.A. in education.

Since 1996, Bills has worked as a secondary social studies teacher at Rosemount High School, teaching courses in Microeconomics, Macroeconomics[2] and American Government & Politics. He is also the former head coach of the wrestling team.[3]

Early political life

In 2008, Bills was elected to the Rosemount City Council from a field of 26 candidates.[4]

Bills cited his students for his reason to enter the political arena. In Bills words: "In 2007, when studying fiscal policy, national debt, deficits, and entitlements, a student asked why solutions are not sought if we know that we have structural problems. I explained how politicians make self-interested choices just like the rest of us. After a short discussion about party structure, media and election cycle politics, one of my more politically active students, in a mixture of depression, anger and frustration asked, 'Mr. Bills, what are we supposed to do about this?'" [5]

Minnesota House of Representatives

2010 election

Bills ran for the Minnesota House of Representatives in 2010 in District 37B. He defeated incumbent Democratic State Representative Phil Sterner, 58%–42%.[6]

Tenure

Bills's district included Rosemount and parts of Apple Valley, in the southeastern Twin Cities metropolitan area.[7]

Bills was a chief author of bills supporting scholarships for early high school graduation; reduction of pay for legislators if the budget were not balanced by the end of the legislative session; and making gold and silver legal tender in Minnesota.[8]

On May 21, 2011, Bills joined the House Republican Majority in voting for a constitutional amendment to constitutionally ban marriage for same-sex couples.[9] He was also among those legislators during the July 2011 Minnesota government shutdown who declined their pay.[10]

Committee assignments
  • House Committee on Capital Investment
  • House Committee on Education/Finance
  • House Committee on Taxes[11]

2012 U.S. Senate election
Main article: 2012 United States Senate election in Minnesota

In March 2012, Bills announced his candidacy for the U.S. Senate seat held by Amy Klobuchar.[12] He was endorsed by GOP presidential contender Ron Paul,[13] U.S. Senator Rand Paul and Minnesota House Speaker Kurt Zellers.[14]

At the state Republican convention in May 2012, Bills received the Senate endorsement on the second ballot.[15] He won the Republican primary on August 14, 2012.

Klobuchar defeated Bills in the general election on November 6, 2012. Bills carried only two counties (Rock County and Pipestone County) while Klobuchar swept the rest of the state, winning with 65% of the vote.[16]

Post-election professional life

In March 2013, Forbes.com added Bills as a contributor to its website.[17]

In July 2013, H&H Partners Consulting Corporation named Bills to its board of directors as Executive Chairman and a Senior Advisor.[18]

Personal life

Bills and his wife, Cindy, own a licensed home daycare that she operates. They reside in Rosemount with their four children.[19]

References
  1. "Bills wins GOP nod for U.S. Senate," by Rachel E. Stassen, May 18, 2012, Minneapolis Star Tribune
  2. Brooks, Jennifer. "Before hitting campaign trail, Kurt Bills is back in classroom". The Star Tribune. Retrieved May 24, 2012. "If you want to write a diatribe against me, I completely understand and it's probably well deserved," Bills joked with his students as he urged them to fill out an evaluation of the year's lessons in micro and macroeconomics. He also asked them what he could improve on next year -- just in case he's not on his way to Washington.
  3. http://votesmart.org/candidate/biography/123261/kurt-bills
  4. Rupar, Aaron (2012-03-08). "Kurt Bills, MNGOP Rep., seeking Republican endorsement to challenge Klobuchar - Minneapolis News - The Blotter". Blogs.citypages.com. Archived from the original on 2012-03-19. Retrieved 2012-03-31.
  5. "How I Teach High Scholl Economics in the Scandinavian Socialist Midwest"
  6. "MN House Seat 37B Race - Nov 02, 2010". Our Campaigns. Retrieved 2012-03-31.
  7. http://www.commissions.leg.state.mn.us/gis/html/l2002/pdf/37b.pdf
  8. https://www.revisor.mn.gov/revisor/pages/search_status/status_search.php?body=House&session=0872011[]=&legid1=15343
  9. "Roll call vote: Same-sex marriage ban amendment". Minnesota Public Radio. Retrieved 2011-05-23.
  10. "Many Local Lawmakers Getting Paid During Shutdown". WDIO.com. Retrieved 2012-03-31.
  11. "Kurt Bills (R) 37B - Minnesota House of Representatives". House.leg.state.mn.us. Retrieved 2012-03-31.
  12. Stassen, Rachel E. "GOP state Rep. Bills to run for U.S. Senate". StarTribune.com. Retrieved 2012-03-31.
  13. Business Wire. "Ron Paul Endorses U.S. Senate Candidate Rep. Kurt Bills of Minnesota". Business Wire. Retrieved 2012-03-31.
  14. Croman, John. "Rosemount teacher to take on Klobuchar for Senate". Kare 11. Retrieved 2012-05-19.
  15. "Bills wins GOP nod for U.S. Senate," by Rachel E. Stassen, May 18, 2012, Minneapolis Star Tribune
  16. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2013-06-11. Retrieved 2012-11-13.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) "MN Election Results"
  17. "Kurt Bills Profile on Forbes"
  18. "H&H Partners Announces Kurt Bills as Board Member"
  19. Radomski, Lauren. "Bills Clinches Minn. GOP Senate Endorsement". 5 Eyewitness News. Retrieved May 24, 2012. Bills and his wife, Cindy, have four children (Kyla, Cassandra, Hayden, and Olivia) and live in Rosemount, a suburb south St. Paul. They own a licensed home day care that she runs.
Party political offices
Preceded by
Mark Kennedy		 Republican nominee for U.S. Senator from Minnesota
(Class 1)
2012		 Succeeded by
Jim Newberger
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