List of speakers of the Minnesota House of Representatives explained

Post:	Speaker
Body:	the Minnesota House of Representatives
Insignia:	Seal of Minnesota.svg
Incumbent:	Melissa Hortman
Incumbentsince:	January 8, 2019
Termlength:	Two years, no term limit
Inaugural:	John S. Watrous
Formation:	December 2, 1857
Website:	http://www.house.leg.state.mn.us/

This is a list of speakers of the Minnesota House of Representatives. The speaker of the House is usually the leader of the majority party, and is the most powerful figure in the House. The current House speaker is Melissa Hortman.

Territorial

	Speaker	Took office	Left office	Party/caucus
1	Joseph W. Furber	1849	1851
2	Michael E. Ames	1851	1852		Democratic
3	John D. Ludden	1852	1853		Unknown
4	David Day	1853	1854		Unknown
5	Nathan C. D. Taylor	1854	1855		Unknown
6	James S. Norris	1855	1856		Democratic
7	Charles Gardner	1856	1857		Unknown
8	Joseph W. Furber	1857	1857		Whig

State

	Speaker	Took office	Left office	Party/caucus	Notes	Session
1	John S. Watrous	2 December 1857	12 March 1858		Unknown	Minnesota Legislators Past & Present lists Watrous' party affiliation as "Not Available," while the Minnesota Legislative Reference Library's list of Speakers of the House of Representatives lists "R?," indicating that the MLRL does not know what Watrous' party affiliation was, and is merely guessing that he might have been a Republican. On the other hand, the Journal of the House of Representatives for the 1st Session shows that Watrous was elected Speaker in a party-line vote by a majority Democratic House of Representatives, with the Democratic majority voting for him and the Republican minority voting for James Beach Wakefield, and Watrous was, in 1859, given a federal civil service appointment by the Buchanan Administration at a time when patronage was the rule for civil service appointments.	1st
2	George Bradley	12 March 1858	6 December 1859		Unknown	Minnesota Legislators Past & Present lists Bradley's party affiliation as "Not Available," while the Minnesota Legislative Reference Library's list of Speakers of the House of Representatives lists "R?," indicating that the MLRL does not know what Bradley's party affiliation was, and is merely guessing that he might have been a Republican. On the other hand, Bradley was elected Speaker at a time when the Democrats held a 55 percent voting majority in the Minnesota House of Representatives, and, in 1860, received a federal civil service appointment from the Buchanan Administration, much as Watrous had.
3	Amos Coggswell	7 December 1859	7 January 1861				2nd
4	Jared Benson	8 January 1861	5 January 1863			3rd
				4th
5	Charles D. Sherwood	6 January 1863	4 January 1864				5th
6	Jared Benson	5 January 1864	1864?				6th
7	Thomas H. Armstrong	1864?	1865			Unclear whether took office in 1864 or 1865	7th
8	James B. Wakefield	1866	1866			Served as a U.S. Representative	8th
9	John Q. Farmer	1867	1868			9th
				10th
10	Chester D. Davidson	1869	1869				11th
11	John L. Merriam	1870	1871			12th
				13th
12	A.R. Hall	1872	1874			14th
				15th
				16th
13	William R. Kinyon	1875	1876			17th
				18th
14	John L. Gibbs	1877	1877				19th
15	Charles A. Gilman	1878	1879			20th
				21st
16	Loren Fletcher	1881	1885			22nd
				23rd
17	John L. Gibbs	1885	1887				24th
18	William Rush Merriam	1887	1889			Served as Governor of Minnesota	25th
19	Charles H. Graves	1889	1891				26th
20	Ezra T. Champlin	1891	1893				27th
21	William E. Lee	1893	1895				28th
22	Samuel Rinnah Van Sant	1895	1897			Served as Governor of Minnesota	29th
23	John D. Jones	1897	1899				30th
24	Arthur N. Dare	1899	1901				31st
25	M.J. Dowling	1901	1903				32nd
26	Leverett W. Babcock	1903	1905				33rd
27	Frank Clague	1905	1907			Served as a U.S. Representative	34th
28	Lawrence H. Johnson	1907	1909				35th
29	Anton J. Rockne	1909	1911				36th
30	Howard H. Dunn	1911	1913				37th
31	Henry Rines	1913	1915			Served as Minnesota Treasurer	38th
32	H.H. Flowers	1915	1917				39th
33	Ralph J. Parker	January 1917	January 1919				40th
34	William I. Nolan	January 1919	January 1925			41st
				42nd
				43rd
35	John A. Johnson	January 1925	January 1931			44th
				45th
				46th
36	Oscar A. Swenson	January 1931	January 1933				47th
37	Charles Munn	January 1933	January 1935				48th
38	George W. Johnson	January 1935	January 1937				49th
39	Harold H. Barker	January 1937	January 1939				50th
40	Lawrence M. Hall	January 1939	January 1949		Longest-serving speaker	51st
				52nd
				53rd
				54th
				55th
41	John A. Hartle	January 4, 1949	January 6, 1955			56th
				57th
				58th
42	Alfred I. Johnson	January 6, 1955	January 5, 1959			59th
				60th
43	Edwin J. Chilgren	January 5, 1959	January 7, 1963			61st
				62nd
44	Lloyd L. Duxbury	January 7, 1963	January 1971			63rd
				64th
				65th
				66th
45	A.W. Dirlam	January 1971	January 1973				67th
46	Martin Olav Sabo	January 1973	January 1979	DFL	Served as a U.S. Representative	68th
				69th
				70th
47	Rod Searle	January 1979	January 1980				71st
48	Fred C. Norton	January 1980	January 1981			Served on Minnesota Court of Appeals
49	Harry A. Sieben	January 1981	January 1985	DFL		72nd
				73rd
50	David M. Jennings	January 1985	January 1987				74th
51	Fred C. Norton	January 1987	June 1987			Served on Minnesota Court of Appeals	75th
52	Robert Vanasek	June 1987	January 6, 1992			75th
				76th
				77th
53	Dee Long	January 6, 1992	September 15, 1993		First woman to serve as speaker.	77th
				78th