Ramsey County

Ramsey County is located in East Central Minnesota and was established on October 27, 1849 by the Territorial Legislature as one of the original nine counties. Ramsey County is named after Minnesota Territorial Governor (1849-1853), St. Paul Mayor (1855), Governor (1860-1863), and U.S. Senator (1863-1875) Alexander Ramsey. St. Paul is the county seat. Source: Minnesota Geographic Names, by Warren Upham (Minnesota Historical Society, 1969).

Notable candidates from Ramsey County include:

• Elmer L. Andersen (resident): State Senator (1949-1959) and Republican Governor (1961-1963)
• Patricia Anderson (born): Republican Auditor (2003-2007) and State Representative (2023-present)
• Wendell Anderson (born, resident): State Representative (1959-1967), State Senator (1963-1971), DFL Governor (1971-1976), and U.S. Senator (1976-1978)
• George Washington Armstrong (resident): Democratic Territorial Treasurer (1857-1858) and State Treasurer (1858-1860)
• John Averill (resident): Republican U.S. Representative (1871-1875)
• Joseph H. Ball (resident): Republican U.S. Senator (1940-1942; 1943-1949)
• Val Bjornson (resident): Republican Treasurer (1951-1955, 1957-1975)
• Rudy Boschwitz (resident): Independent-Republican U.S. Senator (1978-1991)
• George Bunn (resident): Supreme Court Associate Justice (1913-1918)
• J.A.A. Burnquist (resident): Republican State Representative (1909-1913), Lieutenant Governor (1913-1915), Governor (1915-1921), and Attorney General (1939-1955)
• Irving A. Caswell (resident): Republican Clerk of the Supreme Court (1911-1919)
• Henry W. Childs (resident): Republican Attorney General (1893-1899)
• Theodore Christianson, Jr. (resident): Supreme Court Associate Justice (1950-1955)
• Moses E. Clapp (resident): Republican U.S. Senator (1901-1917)
• Greenleaf Clark (resident): Supreme Court Associate Justice (1881-1882)
• Norm Coleman (resident): Republican U.S. Senator (2003-2009)
• Cushman Kellogg Davis (resident): Republican State Representative (1867-1868), Governor (1874-1876), and U.S. Senator (1887-1900)
• Edward J. Devitt (born, resident): Republican U.S. Representative (1947-1949)
• William Donahower (resident): Republican Attorney General (1904-1905)
• Lafayette Emmett (resident): Supreme Court Chief Justice (1858-1865)
• William E. Frenzel (born): State Representative (1963-1971) and Republican U.S. Representative (1971-1991)
• Sandra Gardebring (resident): Supreme Court Associate Justice (1991-1998)
• James Gilfillan (resident): Supreme Court Chief Justice (1869-1870, 1875-1894)
• Oscar Hallam (resident): Supreme Court Associate Justice (1913-1923)
• Rolland F. Hatfield (resident): Republican Auditor (1971-1975)
• Clifford L. Hilton (resident): Republican Attorney General (1918-1927) and Supreme Court Associate Justice (1928-1943)
• Virginia Holm (born, resident): Republican Secretary of State (1952-1955)
• Sherwood Hough (resident): Clerk of the Supreme Court (1867-1876)
• Natalie Hudson (resident): Supreme Court Associate Justice (2015-present)
• Edwin Jaggard (resident): Supreme Court Associate Justice (1905-1911)
• Marlene Johnson (resident): DFL Lieutenant Governor (1983-1991)
• Joseph E. Karth (born, resident): State Representative (1951-1959) and DFL U.S. Representative (1959-1977)
• Oscar Keller (resident): Republican U.S. Representative (1919-1927)
• Frank B. Kellogg (resident): Republican U.S. Senator (1917-1923)
• Andrew Kiefer (resident): Republican State Representative (1864-1865) and U.S. Representative (1893-1897)
• Stafford King (resident): Republican State Auditor (1931-1969)
• Elling A. Knutson (resident): Republican Railroad and Warehouse Commissioner (1952-1953)
• Joan Ericksen Lancaster (born): Supreme Court Associate Justice (1998-2002)
• Melvin J. Maas (resident): U.S. Representative (1927-1933, 1935-1945)
• George MacKinnon (born): State Representative (1935-1943) and Republican U.S. Representative (1947-1949)
• William R. Marshall (resident): Republican Governor (1866-1870) and Railroad Commissioner (1874-1882)
• Frank W. Matson (born, resident): Republican Railroad and Warehouse Commissioner (1923-1937, 1939-1949)
• Eugene J. McCarthy (resident): DFL U.S. Representative (1949-1959) and U.S. Senator (1959-1971)
• Betty McCollum (resident): DFL State Representative (1993-2001) and U.S. Representative (2001-present)
• Andrew R. McGill (resident): Republican Governor (1887-1889) and State Senator (1899-1905)
• Samuel J.R. McMillan (resident): Supreme Court Associate Justice (1864-1874), Supreme Court Chief Justice (1874-1875), and Republican U.S. Senator (1875-1887)
• William R. Merriam (resident): Republican State Representative (1883-1885, 1887-1889) and Governor (1889-1893)
• Arthur E. Nelson (resident): Republican U.S. Senator (1942-1943)
• Jacob J. Noah (resident): Democratic Clerk of the Supreme Court (1857-1861)
• William Ignatius Nolan (born): Republican State Representative (1903-1909, 1911-1915, 1917-1925), Lieutenant Governor (1925-1929), U.S. Representative (1929-1933), and Railroad and Warehouse Commissioner (1942-1943)
• Thomas D. O’Brien (resident): Supreme Court Associate Justice (1909-1911)
• William J. O’Brien (resident): Republican State Auditor (1969-1971)
• James Otis (born, resident): Supreme Court Associate Justice (1961-1982)
• Tim Pawlenty (born): Republican State Representative (1993-2003) and Governor (2003-2011)
• Harry H. Peterson (born, resident): Farmer-Labor Attorney General (1933-1936) andSupreme Court Associate Justice (1936-1950)
• Dean Phillips (born): DFL U.S. Representative (2019-present)
• Peter S. Popvich (resident): State Representative (1953-1963), Supreme Court Associate Justice (1987-1989) and Chief Justice (1989-1990)
• Alexander Ramsey (resident): Republican Governor (1860-1863) and U.S. Senator (1863-1875)
• Darius F. Reese (resident): Republican Supreme Court Clerk (1895-1903)
• Edmund Rice (resident): Democratic State Senator (1864-1866, 1873-1875), State Representative (1867-1868, 1872-1873, 1877-1879), and U.S. Representative (1887-1889)
• Henry M. Rice (resident): Democratic U.S. Delegate (1853-1857) and U.S. Senator (1858-1863)
• William Seeger (resident): Republican State Treasurer (1872-1873)
• Tina Smith (resident): DFL Lieutenant Governor (2015-2018) and U.S. Senator (2018-present)
• Warren Spannaus (born): DFL Attorney General (1971-1983)
• Frank T. Starkey (born, resident): State Representative (1923-1933) and DFL U.S. Representative (1945-1947)
• Edward Stringer (born, resident): Supreme Court Associate Justice (1994-2002)
• Frederick C. Stevens (resident): Republican State Representative (1889-1893) and U.S. Representative (1897-1915)
• Jacob Stewart (resident): Republican State Senator (1859-1861) and U.S Representative (1877-1879)
• Royal Stone (resident): Supreme Court Associate Justice (1923-1942)
• Carl Van Dyke (resident): Democratic U.S. Representative (1915-1919)
• Bruce F. Vento (born, resident): State Representative (1971-1977) and DFL U.S. Representative (1977-2000)
• Wilhelmina Wright (resident): Supreme Court Associate Justice (2012-2016)