Paul Thissen
Associate Justice of theMinnesota Supreme Court
Incumbent
Assumed office May 14, 2018
Appointed by	Mark Dayton
Preceded by	David Stras
59thSpeaker of the Minnesota House of Representatives
In office January 8, 2013 – January 5, 2015
Preceded by	Kurt Zellers
Succeeded by	Kurt Daudt
Minority Leader of the Minnesota House of Representatives
In office January 6, 2015 – January 2, 2017
Preceded by	Kurt Daudt
Succeeded by	Melissa Hortman
In office January 4, 2011 – January 7, 2013
Preceded by	Kurt Zellers
Succeeded by	Kurt Daudt
Member of theMinnesota House of Representatives from the 61B district
In office January 7, 2003 – April 20, 2018
Preceded by	Mark Gleason
Succeeded by	Jamie Long
Personal details
Born	(1966-12-10)December 10, 1966 (age 59) Bloomington,Minnesota, U.S.
Party	Democratic
Spouse	Karen Wilson
Children	3
Education	Harvard University (BA) University of Chicago (JD)

Paul Thissen (born December 10, 1966) is an American politician and jurist serving as an associate justice of theMinnesota Supreme Court. He previously served as theSpeaker of the Minnesota House of Representatives and DFL Minority Leader. Thissen was the longest-serving leader of the Minnesota House Democrats sinceMartin Olav Sabo in the 1970s. A member of theMinnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party (DFL), he represented District 61B in southMinneapolis. First elected in 2002, Thissen was reelected every two years through 2016. On April 17, 2018, GovernorMark Dayton appointed Thissen to the Minnesota Supreme Court. He was sworn in on May 14, 2018. He is the first person to have served both as Minnesota House Speaker and on the Minnesota Supreme Court.^[1]

Thissen was born inBloomington, Minnesota. His parents, Frank and Barb Thissen, were both lifelong educators. Frank grew up on a farm inBlooming Prairie, Minnesota, that the family still owns, and worked for theSaint Paul Public Schools as a teacher, counselor, and administrator. Barb worked for many years as a special education teacher forRichfield Public Schools.

After graduating from theAcademy of Holy Angels inRichfield, Minnesota, Thissen attendedHarvard University and graduated with high honors in 1989. He earned a J.D. degree from theUniversity of Chicago Law School in 1992.

Thissen is married to Karen Wilson Thissen. They have three children.

Thissen clerked forJames B. Loken of theU.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit and then went to work at the Minneapolis law firm of Briggs & Morgan, where he specialized in general litigation and appellate work and served as chair of the firm'sPro Bono Committee. During Thissen's tenure, he pioneered new approaches for lawyers to serve the community, initiating partnerships with several local non-profits. The firm more than doubled the hours of free legal services it provided to low-income individuals and nonprofits.^{[citation needed]} Thissen also worked for the Minnesota State Public Defender's Office and founded "Access for Persons with Disabilities," a group of lawyers dedicated to providing legal services to persons with disabilities.

Thissen later worked as an attorney specializing in health care law at the Minneapolis office of the law firm of Ballard Spahr. In 2006, he was named one of "Forty Under 40" top business professionals in the Twin Cities by theMinneapolis / St. Paul Business Journal.^[2] In 2008, he was named one of the "Best Brains" in the Twin Cities byMpls.St.Paul Magazine.^[3] In 2008 and 2012, Paul was recognized as one of the 100 Influential Minnesotans in Health Care byPhysicianMagazine. In 2013, he was named the sixth most powerful person in Minnesota byMinnesota Monthly Magazine.^[4]

Thissen has been active in community activities. He served on the boards of the Minnesota Justice Foundation and numerous other local nonprofits.

Thissen was elected to theMinnesota House of Representatives in 2002, in his first run for public office.

During his first two terms, Thissen was a key player in passing major changes to Minnesota's eminent domain laws to protect the rights of individual property owners, the merger of the insolvent Minneapolis Teachers Retirement Fund into the statewide teacher's pension fund, a nation-leading law to curb abusive tax-preparer practices, and an overhaul of state campaign law.

In 2006, Thissen served as Finance Co-Chair of the House DFL Caucus and raised more money than the Republican opposition. In the election that November, the DFL added 19 seats to its majority.Politics in Minnesota named Thissen one of the big "winners" of the 2006 election in its November 9, 2006 edition.^{[citation needed]}

From 2007 to 2010, Thissen served as chair of the Health and Human Services Committee. Before becoming minority leader in 2011, he also served on the Health Finance Committee, the Biosciences Committee, the Telecommunications Division, the Finance Committee, the Rules Committee and the Legislative Commission on Pensions and Retirement.^[5] Thissen also served as speaker pro tempore.

Thissen was chief author of HF 1, the Children's Health Security Act. The proposal, which would provide health coverage to all children in Minnesota families who make under $60,000 per year, passed the Minnesota House in 2007.

Thissen served on the Health Care Access Commission and also served on GovernorTim Pawlenty's Health Transformation Taskforce. In 2008, he played a key role in passing health-care reform legislation that the MinneapolisStar Tribune named the prize of the 2008 session.^[6]

In the 2010 election, the DFL lost its majority in the Minnesota House. Thissen was elected by his peers to be the Minority Leader for the DFL House Caucus. He was named 2012 Legislator of the Year by Politics in Minnesota.^[7] Thissen led the Democrats back to control of the Minnesota House in the 2012 election.^[8]

After leading his caucus to victory in the2012 election, the Minnesota House of Representatives elected Thissen Speaker for the 2013-14 legislative sessions.^[9] He became speaker on January 8, 2013.

The 2013 session was among the most productive in a generation, passing the first significant investment in early childhood education in Minnesota history; all-day, every-day kindergarten for every five-year-old in the state; a two-year tuition freeze for public college and university students; and the legalization of same-sex marriage.^[10] The legislature also passed the Minnesota Dream Act, providing in-state tuition for the children of undocumented immigrants, and expanded health coverage for hundreds of thousands of Minnesotans, creating a Minnesota-based health insurance exchange called MNSure.^[11] Minnesota's 2013 legislative session received national attention.^[12][13] TheWashington Post named Thissen an "Emerging Star Outside the Beltway."^[14]

The 2014 session continued this progressive work. The legislature increased the minimum wage from among the nation's lowest to $9.50 and indexed the wage to inflation in the future.^[15] It also enacted $550 million in middle-class tax cuts, including additional significant property-tax relief, and passed limited medical marijuana legislation.^[16] And the legislature enacted the Women's Economic Security Act, a package of policy ideas Thissen had made his top priority for the session, which includes pay equity requirements for state contractors, workplace protections for caregivers and new mothers, and incentives for women entrepreneurs.^[17] Upon the session's conclusion, theStar Tribune commented, "For the most part, Minnesota is once again the state that works."^[18]

In January 2015, Thissen was elected Minority Leader by his DFL colleagues; he served in that position through the end of 2016.

In 2012, Thissen, then House minority leader, was instrumental in securing public financing forU.S. Bank Stadium, along with GovernorMark Dayton and then Minneapolis MayorR.T. Rybak.^[19]

In November 2008, Thissen launched an exploratory campaign for the 2010 Minnesotagubernatorial race. On July 24, 2009, he officially announced his candidacy, noting that he would focus on the issues of health care, renewable energy and education.^[20] Thissen's campaign surprised many since he started as an unknown in a field of high-profile candidates yet built broad support across the state.^[21]

At the April 2010 DFL State Convention, Thissen won more delegates than any of his rivals in the large Congressional districts outside the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul. He outlasted several candidates, but ultimately withdrew from the race after the fifth round of balloting, which led to a two-person race between then House SpeakerMargaret Anderson Kelliher and Minneapolis MayorR.T. Rybak.^[22]

On June 15, 2017, Thissen announced that he would run for governor again in the 2018 election.^[23] He withdrew from the race in February 2018.^[24]

On April 17, 2018, GovernorMark Dayton appointed Thissen to be an associate justice of theMinnesota Supreme Court.^[25] As a result, Thissen resigned from the legislature, effective April 20.^[26] Although 17 former legislators have served on the Minnesota Supreme Court, Thissen is the first to move directly from the legislature to the court.^[27] He is also the first former House Speaker to serve on the court. He was sworn in on May 14, 2018.

In 2020, Thissen was elected to a full term on the Supreme Court. He was endorsed by theMinneapolis Star Tribune^[28] and Forum Communications.^[29] He defeated Michelle MacDonald with just over 59% of the vote.^[30] Thissen won in all eight Congressional Districts in Minnesota and in 86 of 87 counties.^[31]

• Minnesota gubernatorial election, 2010

Wikimedia Commons has media related toPaul Thissen.

• Paul Thissen atMinnesota Legislators Past & Present
• Paul Thissen onTwitter
• Paul Thissen onFacebook
• Rep. Thissen Speech on Children's Health
• 2010 gubernatorial campaign videos

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• Harvard University alumni
• Justices of the Minnesota Supreme Court
• People from Bloomington, Minnesota
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• Democratic Party members of the Minnesota House of Representatives
• University of Chicago Law School alumni
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