Emma Greenman

Emma Greenman
Member of the Minnesota House of Representatives
from the 63B district
Assumed office
January 5, 2021
Preceded byJean Wagenius
Personal details
Political partyDemocratic (DFL)
ResidenceMinneapolis, Minnesota
EducationGeorge Washington University (BA)
Harvard University (MPA)
University of California, Berkeley (JD)
OccupationAttorney
WebsiteGovernment website Campaign website

Emma Greenman is an American politician who has served in the Minnesota House of Representatives since 2021. A member of the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party (DFL), Greenman represents District 63B, which includes parts of south Minneapolis in Hennepin County, Minnesota.[1][2]

Early life, education and career[edit]

Greenman attended high school at Minneapolis South High School. She earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science from George Washington University, a Master of Public Administration from Harvard University and a Juris Doctor from the UC Berkeley School of Law.[1][3]

In 2007, Greenman worked as a legal intern at the Brennan Center for Justice. In 2008, she was a summer associate at King & Spalding. She was then a legal intern in the United States Department of Justice Civil Rights Division. In 2010, she was the deputy campaign manager of Margaret Anderson Kelliher's campaign for governor of Minnesota. She then worked as an attorney in the Public Defender's Office in Ramsey County, Minnesota, and as a state director for the Service Employees International Union.[citation needed]

From 2013 to 2015, Greenman was a political trainer for Wellstone Action, a progressive advocacy organization.[4] She also worked as an attorney for Maslon LLP from 2012 to 2015. In 2015, she represented Tony Webster, an independent journalist who sued the city of Bloomington for failing to release records related to a Black Lives Matter protest.[5] From 2015 to 2021, she was the director of voting rights and democracy at the Center for Popular Democracy.[6] In 2018, she was a member of Attorney General Keith Ellison's transition team.[7]

In 2016, Governor Mark Dayton appointed Greenman to the Minnesota Campaign Finance Board. She served briefly in an interim capacity, but her appointment was not confirmed by the Republican-controlled Minnesota Senate.[8] While a member, she was the only vote against allowing the then-city council member Jacob Frey to transfer his campaign funds from his council races to his mayoral campaign.[9] In the 2021 Minneapolis mayoral election, Greenman did not endorse Frey, and signed on to a letter that advocated for a "new mayor" who would do more to end racial disparities and increase public safety.[10]

Minnesota House of Representatives[edit]

Greenman was elected to the Minnesota House of Representatives in 2020 and reelected in 2022. She first ran after 17-term incumbent Jean Wagenius announced she would not seek reelection.[1]

Greenman is vice chair of the Elections Finance and Policy Committee, and sits on the Education Finance, Labor and Industry Finance and Policy, and Veterans and Military Affairs Finance and Policy Committees. From 2021 to 2022, she was as an assistant majority leader of the House DFL caucus.[1]

Election policy[edit]

Greenman co-chairs an Inclusive Democracy caucus announced on the two-year anniversary of the January 6 insurrection.[11] She is the author of the "Democracy for the People" Act, the House DFL's major elections bill of the 2023 legislative session.[12] She has been outspoken about the threat that the Republican Party poses to democracy after the January 6 insurrection.[13] She has opposed efforts to institute voter ID requirements in Minnesota, and advocated for automatic voter registration, pre-registration for 16- and 17-year-olds, and restoring the vote to felons after they leave incarceration.[14] She has sponsored legislation to increase protections for poll workers and to tighten reporting requirements for independent political expenditures.[15] She has also proposed a "Democracy Dollars" program that would send voters two $25 coupons that could be used to donate to political candidates.[16]

Labor and worker's rights[edit]

Greenman has been outspoken about the poor working conditions at Amazon package facilities, writing, "When Amazon arrived in Minnesota six years ago, it promised to provide our state with safe, reliable jobs with dignified wages. Instead, it delivered our communities quite the opposite."[17] She wrote a bill to increase worker protections at warehouse facilities.[18] She also wrote a bill to restrict who can be classified as an "independent contractor" to protect Uber and Lyft workers from exploitation.[19]

Electoral history[edit]

2020 DFL Primary for Minnesota State House - District 63B[20]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic (DFL) Emma Greenman 7,380 63.98
Democratic (DFL) Jerome T Evans 3,032 26.29
Democratic (DFL) Husniyah Dent Bradley 1,123 9.74
Total votes 11,535 100.0
2020 Minnesota State House - District 63B[21]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic (DFL) Emma Greenman 18,980 72.95
Republican Frank Pafko 4,960 19.06
Legal Marijuana Now Dennis Schuller 2,039 7.84
Write-in 40 0.15
Total votes 26,019 100.0
Democratic (DFL) hold
2022 Minnesota State House - District 63B[22]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic (DFL) Emma Greenman (incumbent) 20,339 98.67
Write-in 274 1.33
Total votes 20,613 100.0
Democratic (DFL) hold

Personal life[edit]

Greenman lives in Minneapolis.[1]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c d e "Greenman, Emma". Minnesota Legislature. Retrieved February 21, 2023.
  2. ^ "Rep. Emma Greenman (63B)". Minnesota House of Representatives. Retrieved March 3, 2023.
  3. ^ Andrew Cohen (August 29, 2008). "Emma Greenman '09 Targets Youth Vote at Democratic National Convention". Berkeley Law. Retrieved March 8, 2023.
  4. ^ "Emma Greenman for House District 63B". MN350 Action. Retrieved April 30, 2021.
  5. ^ Nelson, Emma (June 19, 2015). "Man sues city of Bloomington over Black Lives Matter records". Star Tribune. Retrieved March 3, 2023.
  6. ^ "Voting rights: the fight for our democracy". MinnPost. August 25, 2017. Retrieved April 30, 2021.
  7. ^ Bierschbach, Briana (November 19, 2018). "AG-elect Ellison announces transition team". MPR News. Retrieved March 3, 2023.
  8. ^ Bakst, Brian (May 27, 2016). "Campaign regulatory board stymied by Legislature". MPR News. Retrieved March 3, 2023.
  9. ^ Belz, Adam (January 31, 2017). "Campaign finance board: Frey can spend council campaign money in Minneapolis mayor's race". Star Tribune. Retrieved March 3, 2023.
  10. ^ Navratil, Liz (October 18, 2021). "Divided left field of Minneapolis mayoral hopefuls have unified message: Don't rank Frey". Star Tribune. Retrieved March 3, 2023.
  11. ^ Bierschbach, Briana (January 6, 2023). "Minnesota Democrats announce plan to expand voting access". Star Tribune. Retrieved March 3, 2023.
    - Rodriguez, Barbara (February 8, 2023). "Women lawmakers in Minnesota are in the vanguard of the democracy movement". MinnPost. Retrieved March 3, 2023.
  12. ^ Winter, Deena (February 14, 2023). "Election bill that would make it easier to vote moving through Legislature". Minnesota Reformer. Retrieved March 3, 2023.
    - Winter, Deena (January 5, 2023). "Minneapolis voting rights attorney lays out DFL plan for election reform". Minnesota Reformer. Retrieved March 3, 2023.
  13. ^ Greenman, Emma; Port, Lindsey (January 7, 2022). "One year after the insurrection, a democracy in crisis". MinnPost. Retrieved March 3, 2023.
    - Greenman, Emma (November 18, 2022). "The big winner of the midterm elections in Minnesota was democracy". MinnPost. Retrieved March 3, 2023.
  14. ^ Sturdevant, Lori (February 13, 2021). "OPINION EXCHANGE | Voter ID is back to haunt Minnesota democracy". Star Tribune. Retrieved March 3, 2023.
    - Bakst, Brian (February 8, 2023). "Voter sign-up bill causes partisan split in MN Legislature". MPR News. Retrieved March 3, 2023.
  15. ^ "More work needed to protect elections". Star Tribune. November 17, 2022. Retrieved March 3, 2023.
    - Bierschbach, Briana (February 17, 2023). "Minnesota Democrats push for more reporting on outside money in elections". Star Tribune. Retrieved March 3, 2023.
  16. ^ Callaghan, Peter (January 23, 2023). "Should Minnesota make public spending on campaigns less like Menards rebates?". MinnPost. Retrieved March 3, 2023.
  17. ^ Greenman, Emma (December 15, 2021). "OPINION EXCHANGE | Minnesota legislators must respond to Amazon's business model". Star Tribune. Retrieved March 3, 2023.
  18. ^ Coolican, J. Patrick. "Minnesota House passes bill aimed at Amazon worker safety; unlikely to pass Senate". Minnesota Reformer. Retrieved March 3, 2023.
  19. ^ Nesterak, Max (October 21, 2022). "Uber and Lyft drivers press lawmakers to address long-standing labor complaints". Minnesota Reformer. Retrieved March 3, 2023.
  20. ^ "2020 Results for State Representative District 63B Primary". Minnesota Secretary of State. Retrieved February 22, 2023.
  21. ^ "2020 Results for State Representative District 63B". Minnesota Secretary of State. Retrieved February 22, 2023.
  22. ^ "2022 Results for State Representative District 63B". Minnesota Secretary of State. Retrieved February 22, 2023.

External links[edit]


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