Michelle Fischbach

Early life, education and career

Fischbach grew up in Woodbury, Minnesota. After graduating from Woodbury High School, she attended the College of St. Benedict in St. Joseph from 1984 to 1986; she later transferred to St. Cloud State University, where she graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science and economics in 1989. Fischbach earned her Juris Doctor from William Mitchell School of Law in Saint Paul in 2011.

She first got involved in politics as an intern to Rudy Boschwitz, then a U.S. senator for Minnesota.

In 1994, Fischbach became the first woman elected to the Paynesville City Council, where she served until she was elected to the Minnesota Senate in 1996.

Minnesota Senate

Fischbach was elected to the Minnesota Senate in 1996 in a special election held after the resignation of DFL Senator Joe Bertram, who had recently pleaded guilty to shoplifting. Fischbach was reelected months later in the 1996 general election, and in 2000, 2002, 2006, 2010, 2012, and 2016. She served as an assistant minority leader from 2001 to 2002 and from 2007 to 2008, and as a deputy minority leader from 2009 to 2010. Fischbach also served as the chair of the Senate's higher education committee.

In 2011, after an election in which Senate Republicans won a majority for the first time since party designation, Fischbach's colleagues elected her the first female president of the Minnesota Senate, a post she held until Republicans lost their majority in 2013. After Republicans regained a majority following the 2016 election, Fischbach was again elected Senate president on January 3, 2017.

Lieutenant governor of Minnesota

Succession

On December 13, 2017, Governor Mark Dayton appointed his lieutenant governor, Tina Smith, to the U.S. Senate seat vacated by Al Franken, who resigned over allegations of sexual misconduct. Smith resigned to accept the appointment on January 2, 2018. Per Article V of the Minnesota Constitution, as president of the State Senate, Fischbach automatically ascended as lieutenant governor.

Constitutional dispute

Fischbach acknowledged that she had become lieutenant governor, but maintained she would retain her senate seat, calling herself "acting lieutenant governor". The constitutionality of holding two offices at once was disputed. Fischbach noted a memo from the senate's nonpartisan counsel, which cited an 1898 Minnesota Supreme Court decision as legal precedent for her to hold both offices. She also said the lieutenant governor's duties are largely ceremonial and she would have no difficulty holding both offices. She declined the lieutenant governor's salary, opting to receive only the pay of a state senator. An advisory opinion from state attorney general Lori Swanson disputed the legality of Fischbach's holding both offices at once, citing a constitutional amendment passed in 1972 and other historical precedents.

The potential outcomes were seen as having potentially significant ramifications for Minnesota politics, as Republicans held only a one-vote majority in the state senate. In December 2017, to avoid a potential tie should Fischbach resign her senate seat, Senate Majority Leader Paul Gazelka and House Speaker Kurt Daudt sent Dayton a letter requesting a special legislative session to temporarily elect a Democratic president of the Senate. Dayton and legislative Democrats immediately rejected the idea, with Senate Minority Leader Tom Bakk indicating he would sue to attempt to force Fischbach out of the Senate should she attempt to serve in both offices, saying the senate's "balance of power [...] will be up for grabs".

In January 2018, a constituent and local DFL activist sued Fischbach, asking a Ramsey County District Court judge to remove her from the state senate. In February 2018, a judge dismissed the suit, ruling it had been prematurely filed.

On May 25, 2018, Fischbach resigned from the senate and was sworn in as lieutenant governor.

Campaign

In May 2018, former Republican Governor Tim Pawlenty announced Fischbach as his running mate in his bid for a third term. Pawlenty and Fischbach lost the Republican primary to Jeff Johnson and Donna Bergstrom.

Fischbach was succeeded as lieutenant governor by Democratic State Representative Peggy Flanagan, who ran on a ticket with Tim Walz. Fischbach left office on January 7, 2019, after Walz and Flanagan were sworn in.

U.S. House of Representatives

Elections

On September 3, 2019, Fischbach announced her candidacy for the Republican nomination to challenge 30-year incumbent Democrat Collin Peterson in Minnesota's 7th congressional district. She won the five-way Republican primary election. Despite Peterson's incumbency, the 7th had been trending Republican for some time. The Republican presidential nominee had carried the district by double-digit margins in three of the previous five elections, including 2016, when Donald Trump carried it with 62% of the vote, his best showing in Minnesota and one of his best showings in any district held by a Democrat.

During her campaign, Fischbach pledged to back Trump on trade, make the 2017 tax cuts permanent, and support workforce education and additional relief for rural and agricultural businesses affected by COVID-19. Her campaign emphasized her support for farmers and the Second Amendment, opposition to abortion, and support for strengthening the U.S. border.

Fischbach defeated Peterson by 49,226 votes, the largest margin of any Republican who defeated an incumbent Democrat in 2020. In the same election, Trump carried the 7th district with 64% of the vote, his best showing in the state. Fischbach and Mariannette Miller-Meeks are the only Republican members of Congress to flip Democratic House districts that were not held by Republicans before 2018.

Tenure

On January 7, 2021, Fischbach was one of 139 representatives to object to the certification of electoral votes from Arizona and Pennsylvania in the 2020 U.S. presidential election, citing allegations of irregularities and voter fraud. On January 13, 2021, she voted against the second impeachment of Trump.

Committee assignments

For the 118th Congress:

Committee on Ethics

Committee on Rules

Subcommittee on Legislative and Budget Process (chair)

Committee on the Budget

Committee on Ways and Means

Subcommittee on Oversight

Subcommittee on Trade

For the 119th Congress:

Committee on Rules

• Subcommittee on Rules and Organization of the House (chair)

Committee on Ways and Means

• Subcommittee on Oversight

• Subcommittee on Trade

Caucus membership

Source:

Congressional Pro-Life Caucus (Co-chair)

Congressional Western Caucus (Vice Chair)

Northern Border Caucus

Congressional Biofuels Caucus

Republican Study Committee

Political positions

Abortion

Fischbach has historically opposed abortion and has repeatedly introduced legislation to limit access to abortion.

Firearms

Fischbach has been a staunch proponent of the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution and gun rights.

Israel

Fischbach voted to provide Israel with support following the 2023 Hamas attack on Israel.

Vote to defund vice president

On November 8, 2023, Fischbach joined 100 other Republicans voting in favor of an amendment to a large appropriations bill that would prohibit funding for the Office of Vice President Kamala Harris.

Personal life

Fischbach is Roman Catholic. She met her husband, Scott, while working on a campaign for former U.S. Senator Rudy Boschwitz. They started dating while she was attending St. Cloud State University and eventually moved to nearby Paynesville. When Fischbach ran for Congress she still lived in Paynesville, in the far southern corner of the congressional district. She and her family have since moved to Regal, near Willmar. They have two children and several grandchildren.

Scott Fischbach has served as executive director of Minnesota Citizens Concerned for Life since 2001.

Electoral history