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Terri Bonoff
File:Terri-Bonoff-lo-res-oct-07-.jpg
Member of the Minnesota Senate
from the 43rd district
Incumbent
Assumed office
December 7, 2005
Preceded byDavid Gaither
Personal details
Born (1957-08-01) August 1, 1957 (age 67)
Edina, Minnesota
Political partyDemocratic Farmer Labor Party
SpouseMatthew Knopf
Children4
ResidenceMinnetonka, Minnesota
Alma materClark University
Occupationmarketing, legislator

Terri E. Bonoff (born August 1, 1957) is a Minnesota politician and a member of the Minnesota Senate who represents District 43, which includes portions of Minnetonka, Plymouth and Medicine Lake in Hennepin County, which is in the Twin Cities metropolitan area. A Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party, she won a special election in November 2005, after Senator David Gaither resigned to become Governor Tim Pawlenty's chief of staff.[1]

Bonoff is currently an assistant minority leader in the Senate. She is a member of the Senate's Commerce and Consumer Protection, Education, and Finance committees.

Personal life

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Bonoff grew up in Edina, Minnesota and later attended Clark University in Worcester, Massachusetts, earning a degree in Psychology and Sociology. After 18 years in business, she retired in 1999 as a marketing executive from Navarre Corporation. Prior to joining Navarre, she spent five years in the toy and video game business, first with Tonka Toys and later Toy Soldiers. In addition, she began her career in fashion retail with Jackson Graves, a family owned women's specialty store. She chose to leave her business career to spend time with her husband and four children.

Political career

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Bonoff describes herself as a "life long Democrat", [2] "supporting Democratic presidential candidates, John Kerry, Al Gore, Bill Clinton, Michael Dukakis, Walter Mondale and Jimmy Carter." [3] She has been a longtime supporter of Barack Obama,[4] and in 2008 served as one of only five financial bundlers for Obama in Minnesota, raising between $50,000 and $100,000 for his election campaign. [5] She continues her support of Obama, making a personal financial contribution to his reelection campaign as recently as October 2011.[6] In Minnesota she has been supportive of Mark Dayton, contributing to his initial gubernatorial campaign in 2010 and making additional contributions to his election committee in 2011. [7]

Bonoff's own career as an elected official began when she won a 2005 special election against Plymouth Mayor Judy Johnson to fill the Minnesota Senate seat being vacated by incumbent Republican David Gaither. She won a rematch with Johnson in the 2006 General Election. Her slogan for both elections was "uniting the middle". She was elected to a second term in 2010.[8]

Prior to being elected to the senate, she served on the Minnetonka Planning Commission and lobbied at the Minnesota Capitol as a volunteer for the Hopkins Legislative Action Commission. She eventually become president of the Hopkins Legislative Action Coalition, a guide at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, and president of Babe Ruth Baseball in Hopkins/Minnetonka.

In 2011 Bonoff ran for and was elected to the position of Assistant Leader of the DFL Senate caucus. “I am honored to have the support of my colleagues in the Senate DFL Caucus ... While we know we face many difficult decisions in the upcoming session, our caucus shares Gov. Dayton’s vision for growing jobs, improving government, and positioning Minnesota for long-term prosperity.”[9]

2008 Campaign for Congress

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Main article: United States House of Representatives elections in Minnesota, 2008

After serving in the Minnesota legislature for two years, Bonoff ran for the 3rd congressional district seat held by the retiring Jim Ramstad.[10][11] In November 2007, EMILY's List, a national pro-choice PAC operating under the slogan "electing women to create progressive change", [12] endorsed Bonoff's campaign.[13]

Bonoff also earned the endorsements of the Minnesota chapter of ACORN, the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now PAC, [14] and the AFSCME union, which endorsed Bonoff on November 30, 2007. Bonoff signed a pledge to co-sponsor the Employee Free Choice Act, AKA "Card check", a bill which would have facilitated the formation of labor unions by removing the need for secret ballot.[15] Campaign materials stated "Bonoff has an established record of standing with labor, voting to secure unemployment benefits for striking Northwest Airlines workers, increasing the state's minimum wage, and encouraging Congressional passage of the Employee Free Choice Act, [SF 2702, Voted on 4/10/06; SF 875, Voted on 4/23/07; SF 543, Voted on 3/14/07]".[16]

On April 12, 2008, Bonoff dropped out of the U.S. House race after Ashwin Madia was endorsed by the DFL party.[11]

Senate Voting Record

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Voter ID

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Bonoff voted against placing a Constitutional Amendment for Voter ID on the ballot (2012 SF 1577/HF 2738 SJ 4938) , voted against legislation requiring an ID to vote 2011 SF 509 SJ 1452), voted against attempts to eliminate the practice of “vouching” for others’ identities at the polls (2010 SF 2388 SJ 7462), and voted against clarifying eligibility rules on the absentee ballot (2010 SF 2622 SJ 7400). Bonoff authored a bill calling for voter verification, which would create a link between the Secretary of State's voting rolls and the Department of Motor Vehicles records (2012 SF 2555).

Health Care

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Bonoff has been a supporter of President Obama's health care plans, voting in favor of allowing the governor the option to enroll Minnesota in the early Medicaid expansion portion of ObamaCare (2010 SF 2337 SJ 10388). She voted against an amendment not to enact Obamacare mandates prior to a cost analysis (2010 SF2337 SJ 10387), against allowing individuals to decide not to carry health insurance (201 SF 2337 SJ 10389), against the Freedom of Choice in Health Care Act (2011 SF 760), and against the Health Care Compact, which would remove the federal government from health care policy and allow states to use federal funds to implement their own health care solutions (2012 SF 1933).

Education

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• Voted in favor of alternative teacher licensing (2012 SF 40, SJ 339). • Voted in favor of teacher layoff reform (LIFO) (2012 SF 1690 SJ 3968). • Voted against requiring legislative approval of the Commissioner’s changes to state curriculum standards (2012 SF 1656 SJ 4084). • Voted in favor of reinstating 2% basic revenue set aside for professional development (2012 SF 56 SJ 229). • Voted in favor of deleting a K12 tuition tax credit (2011 SF SJ 1217). • Authored bill to mandate (a) joint purchasing of goods and services by school districts and (b) a state contract with a purchasing consultant (2009 SF 10 SJ 1710) Voted against making schools’ participation optional. (2009 SF 10 SJ 726). • Voted against suspending school districts’ contract deadline of January 15th and the associated $25 per student penalty if district fails to settle (2009 SF 1328 SJ 1743). • Voted to cut education funding by 7% (2009 SF 1328 SJ 1744).[17] [18] • Voted in favor of in-state college tuition rates for illegal aliens (2007 SF 653 SJ 5350).

Taxes

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• Voted for $1 billion tax increase, [19] including a new 9% top tax bracket, an increase in corporate taxes and an increase in excise taxes on wine, beer and spirits. (2009 SF681/HF 885 SJ 4466) • Voted in favor of the 2007 transportation finance bill, which increased taxes by over $5 Billion, [20] via a sales tax increase of .5%, fee increases and an increase in the gas tax by up to 7.5 cents/gallon (2007 HF 946, Vetoed by Pawlenty) Voted to override the veto. • Voted against $300 million in personal and small business tax relief (Omnibus Tax Bill HF42 2011 SJ 2628) • Voted for statewide general education property tax (2009 SF 1328 SJ 1744) • Voted in favor of a Resolution to support federal law requiring states to collect sales tax from out of state sellers. (2009 SF 1708 SJ 5767) • Voted in favor of sales tax from retailers with “affiliate nexus” (out of state sellers.) (2011 SF 27 SJ 1192) • Voted against federal conformity for tuition and related expenses deduction (2009 SF 252 SJ 668) • Voted against expanding R&D credits to small businesses (2009 SF 252 SJ 673) • Voted against requiring a 3/5 supermajority to pass a tax increase (2008 SF 2869 SJ 8274) • Voted against a new fourth tier tax rate (2010 SF 1556 SJ 10867) • Voted in favor of providing $120 million in tax relief to businesses and families (2012 SF 872 SJ 7588).

Business Record

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In 2012 Bonoff had the most pro-business record among all the Senate Democrats, voting with the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce position 76.5% of the time, relative to an average among her DFL colleagues of 37.5%. Republicans voted with the Chamber of Commerce position an average of 94.3% of the time. Among Republican members, the worst pro-business voting record was 81.3% Chamber favorable votes. [21] Bonoff received the endorsements of the Twin West and Minnesota Chamber of Commerces during her bid for re-election of 2012. [22]

Marriage

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Bonoff voted against placing a Constitutional Amendment on the ballot to define marriage as between one man and one woman (2011 SF 1308, SJ 1978). She voted against giving preference to married couples in adoptions (2007 SF 2171 SJ 1539).

Abortion

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Bonoff voted against against the Pain Capable Child Protection Act, which would prohibit abortions after 20 weeks gestation (2011 SF 679, SJ 2062), and against initiatives to ban taxpayer funded abortions under medical assistance (2010 SF 460, SJ 8049) (2011 SF 103, SJ 2061 and 2958). Voted in-favor of an abortion alternative grant program (2012 SF2330 SJ 5429).


Electoral history

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  • Minnesota Senate District 43 Election 2010
    • Terri Bonoff (D) (inc.), 18271 votes, 51.74%
    • Norann Dillon (R), 17018 votes, 48.19%
    • Write In, 22 votes, 0.06%
  • Minnesota Senate District 43 Election 2006
    • Terri Bonoff (D) (inc.), 19159 votes, 51.93%
    • Judy Johnson (R), 17697 votes, 47.96%
    • Write In, 41 votes, 0.11%
  • Minnesota Senate District 43 Special Election 2005
    • Terri Bonoff (D), 5745 votes, 54.44%
    • Judy Johnson (R), 4802 votes, 45.50%
    • Write In, 6 votes, 0.06%

References

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  1. ^ "MPR Vote Tracker". MPRNews. Retrieved 11 September 2012.
  2. ^ ""Terri Bonoff SD 42 speech"". Location 0:58. YouTube. Retrieved 15 August 2012.
  3. ^ Bonoff, Terri. ""Terri Bonoff and Ashwin Madia The Differences are Big"". Retrieved 16 August 2012.
  4. ^ Grow, Doug (3/14/08). "'No name' candidate Madia gains ground in DFL race for Ramstad congressional seat". MINNPOST. Retrieved 16 August 2012. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  5. ^ Center for Responsive Politics, Open Secrets.org. ""Bundlers" (sorted by state)". Retrieved 15 August 2012.
  6. ^ Center for Responsive Politics, Open Secrets.org. "search "Bonoff, donors, contributor"". Retrieved 15 August 2012.
  7. ^ "Minnesota Campaign Finance and Public Disclosure Board, Report of Contributions by Lobbyists and Individuals". Bonoff, Terri. Retrieved 16 August 2012.
  8. ^ http://electionresults.sos.state.mn.us/20101102/ElecRslts.asp?M=LG&LD=43
  9. ^ Bonoff, Terri (January 5, 2011). "Sen. Terri Bonoff chosen as Assistant Leader of Senate DFL Caucus". Press Release.
  10. ^ "Democrat Bonoff to run for Congress in 3rd District". Minnesota Public Radio. 2007-10-05. Retrieved 2007-11-21.
  11. ^ a b "Candidates lining up in the 6th, 3rd Congressional Districts". Minnesota Public Radio. 2007-09-28. Retrieved 2007-10-01. Cite error: The named reference "tinklenberg" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
  12. ^ "Emily's List".
  13. ^ EMILY's List Announces Endorsement of Terri Bonoff in Minnesota’s 3rd Congressional District EMILY's List, November 26, 2007
  14. ^ Bodell, Joe. "ACORN endorses Bonoff in 3rd district race". Tuesday, February 05, 2008 at 7:30 am. The Minnesota Independent. Retrieved 16 August 2012.
  15. ^ "The Right to Organize". Debate among CD3 Candidates; Location 4:15. Retrieved 16 August 2012.
  16. ^ Bonoff, Terri. "Terri Bonoff and Ashwin Madia the Differences are Big". Retrieved 16 August 2012.
  17. ^ Kaszuba, Mike (3/12/2009). "Schools face a nearly $1 billion cut in DFL proposa". StarTribune. Retrieved 7 September 2012. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  18. ^ Scheck, Tom (3/12/2009). "Senate DFLers propose $1 billion in education cutsScheck". MPRNews. Retrieved 7 September 2012. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  19. ^ "HF 885 Status". Minnesota Senate.
  20. ^ Pawlenty, Tim. "Governor" (PDF). Veto letter 5.15.2007. State of Minnesota. Retrieved 11 September 2012.
  21. ^ "2012 State Senate Voting Records". Minnesota Chamber of Commerce. Retrieved 23 August 2012.
  22. ^ [1]
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Category:1957 births Category:Living people Category:People from Edina, Minnesota Category:Jewish American politicians Category:Minnesota Democrats Category:Minnesota State Senators Category:Clark University alumni Category:Women state legislators in Minnesota

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