A History Lesson on the Appointments of the University of MN's Board of Regents

Just four times in state history, the Minnesota Legislature failed to agree on appointments to the University of Minnesota's Board of Regents. The first two were in the 1930s, the next time was 1973. “The first time in history we had a DFL Governor, DFL House and a DFL Senate," says former AP Political Reporter Gene Lahammer. "Well, new Majority Leader Nick Coleman was offended mightily. Regents come up for election every two years and two of them were Republicans, so he refused to go to the joint convention and tossed it in the lap of the governor.” DFL Gov. Wendell Anderson, who would soon grace the cover of TIME Magazine, had to step in to appoint the Democrats and Republicans.

Then in 2001, Gov. Jesse Ventura was the next state leader who had to make the appointments. The former pro-wrestler had a notoriously combative relationship with the legislature, which failed to come to agreement. I covered that governor, following in my father's footsteps at the State Capitol. “You pointed out it happened once with Jesse Ventura, which is not a surprise since he’s neither Democrat nor Republican, and sort of took turns offending each of the caucuses,” the elder Lahammer concluded.

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