Paul E. Gazelka ( ; born October 1, 1959) is an American politician and small business owner from Minnesota. A Republican, Gazelka was a member of the Minnesota Senate and was previously a member of the Minnesota House of Representatives. In the state senate, Gazelka served as majority leader from 2017 to 2021.
Born and raised in Saint Paul, Minnesota, Gazelka spent his later formative years in Minnesota's Iron Range region. He lives near Gull Lake in Cass County, Minnesota. He represented Senate District 9, which included parts of Cass, Morrison, Todd, and Wadena Counties in the north central part of the state.
Early life, education, and career
Gazelka was born on October 1, 1959, in St. Paul, Minnesota. He lived in St. Paul until age 15, when his family moved to Virginia, Minnesota, a city on the state's Mesabi Iron Range. Gazelka attended Roosevelt High School there and then Oral Roberts University in Tulsa, Oklahoma, where he graduated with a bachelor's degree in business management.
Gazelka is an insurance agent. He owns and operates an insurance agency in Baxter.
Minnesota House of Representatives
After settling in the Nisswa, Minnesota area, Gazelka became involved in local politics. He was a member of the Minnesota House of Representatives from 2005 to 2007, elected from District 12A, which covers portions of Crow Wing County, including the city of Brainerd. During his term, he served as vice chair of the Commerce and Financial Institutions Committee and on the Jobs and Economic Opportunity Policy Finance Committee, the Transportation Committee, and the Commerce and Financial Institutions Subcommittee for the Tourism Division. Gazelka was defeated for reelection in 2006.
Minnesota Senate
Gazelka was elected to the Minnesota Senate in 2010, defeating incumbent Republican Paul Koering in an August primary election and the Democratic nominee in the November general election. He was the senator from District 12 (covering Crow Wing and Morrison counties) from 2011 to 2012, and then District 9 (covering Cass, Morrison, Todd, and Wadena counties) from 2013 onward.
After redistricting, Gazelka was placed in Senate District 9. He was reelected to the Senate in 2012, 2016, and 2020. Republicans lost control of the Minnesota Senate in 2012. As a member of the minority, Gazelka was known for his interest in tax and insurance issues. After the 2016 election, in which Republicans regained a majority in the Senate, Gazelka was elected by his caucus to be majority leader.
Ideologically, Gazelka is member of the Christian right. His 2010 primary victory over Koering, Minnesota's only openly gay Republican legislator, was partially credited to the criticism Koering received for going to dinner with an adult film star, and Gazelka's subsequent legislative career has included efforts to oppose same-sex marriage and government funding of abortion. The Star Tribune called Gazelka "the most socially conservative person in modern times to serve as Minnesota Senate majority leader." But in 2017, upon becoming majority leader, Gazelka said that he intended to focus on transportation, health care, timely passage of a state budget, and tax cuts, and to avoid contentious social issues.
In 2021 Gazelka stepped down from his position as majority leader to focus on his campaign for governor of Minnesota.
Economic issues
In 2017, soon after he became majority leader, Gazelka brokered deals with Democrats for state/federal tax code reconciliation and short-term relief for individuals with high health insurance premiums. He also pressed for expedited budget committee deadlines, expressing a desire to avoid a repeat of the 2011 Minnesota state government shutdown.
Social issues
LGBT rights
Gazelka opposes same-sex marriage and co-sponsored a failed 2012 effort to amend the state constitution to ban the recognition of same-sex marriage in the state. More recently, he blocked proposals to ban "conversion therapy" for minors in Minnesota, though he has said that he did not support "coercive or aversive counseling." Gazelka and his wife once sent their child to an anti-same-sex relationship psychologist who has been characterized as a conversion therapist.