27 Facts About Paul Gazelka

Paul E Gazelka is an American politician and small business owner from Minnesota.

Paul Gazelka represents Senate District 9, which includes parts of Cass, Morrison, Todd, and Wadena counties in the north central part of the state.

Paul Gazelka lived in St Paul until age 15, when his family moved to Virginia, Minnesota, a city on the state's Mesabi Iron Range.

Paul 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.

Paul Gazelka owns and operates an insurance agency in Baxter.

Paul Gazelka 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.

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.

Paul Gazelka was the senator from District 12 from 2011 to 2012, and then District 9 from 2013 onward.

Paul Gazelka was reelected to the Senate in 2012,2016, and 2020.

In 2021 Paul Gazelka stepped down from his position as majority leader to focus on his campaign for governor of Minnesota.

Paul Gazelka pressed for expedited budget committee deadlines, expressing a desire to avoid a repeat of the 2011 Minnesota state government shutdown.

Paul 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.

In 2017, Paul Gazelka supported a bill, introduced by Republican Senator Mary Kiffmeyer, to block the Minnesota Department of Human Services from funding abortion services.

In 2019, Paul Gazelka sponsored legislation to ban abortion in Minnesota 20 weeks after fertilization; the proposal did not advance.

Paul Gazelka staunchly opposes legalization of recreational adult-use marijuana in Minnesota.

In 2021, Paul Gazelka opposed a bill, supported by Walz and passed by the state House, that would ban no-knock search warrants, require police departments to timely release body camera footage of death in custody to decedents' families; authorize local governments to establish civilian police oversight boards; and bar police officers from belonging to white supremacist organizations.

Paul Gazelka said the Senate would not take up the House proposals because he was satisfied with the reforms that passed the preceding year.

Paul Gazelka led Republicans in blocking a Democratic proposal to require face coverings in public areas of the State Capitol.

In December 2020, after Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison sought civil penalties against bars and restaurants that flouted the state's COVID-19 rules, Paul Gazelka threatened to reduce the budget for the attorney general's office.

Paul Gazelka criticized Walz for ordering the closure of public schools in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic; in 2021, the state Senate passed a bill that would block governors from closing schools in the state or from altering school schedules.

Paul Gazelka opposed COVID-19 vaccine mandates and criticized Walz for requiring state employees to be either vaccinated against COVID-19 or receive weekly testing for COVID-19.

On November 5,2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, Paul Gazelka attended a Republican Party event at a catering hall to celebrate the party's victories in the 2020 elections.

Paul Gazelka notified the host venue of the outbreak 10 days after it occurred.

In September 2021, Paul Gazelka resigned as Senate majority leader and announced that he would seek the Republican nomination for governor in 2022.

Paul Gazelka faced several opponents in the Republican primary election.

The Republican primary election is in August 2022, but Paul Gazelka pledged to honor the endorsement of the state Republican Party.

Active in his church, Paul Gazelka wrote a memoir, Marketplace Ministers: Awakening God's People in the Workplace to Their Ultimate Purpose, describing his religious beliefs and career in the insurance business.