Introduction
Kurt Louis Daudt (born September 26, 1973) is a Minnesota politician and the Speaker of the Minnesota House of Representatives. He is the former Minority Leader of the Minnesota House of Representatives. A member of the Republican Party of Minnesota, he represents District 31A, which includes portions of Anoka, Isanti, and Sherburne counties in the east-central Minnesota, north of the Twin Cities metropolitan area. He lives in a cabin on Spectacle Lake near Pine Brook, Minnesota.
Early life, education, and career
Daudt attended Princeton High School, where he graduated in 1992. Rep. Sondra Erickson was his English teacher there. Daudt attended the University of North Dakota to study aviation management. Daudt is a licensed private airline pilot.
Daudt served as an Isanti County commissioner from 2005 to 2010. Before that, he was a township board supervisor for Stanford Township from 1995 to 2005, and a member of the East Central Regional Library Board. He was also a founding member of Project 24, a nonprofit organization that builds orphanages in Kenya. To date, the project has raised over $500,000 and built six orphanages. Before his election to the legislature, he worked at auto dealerships as a salesman and business manager.
Minnesota House of Representatives
Elections
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ± | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Kurt Daudt (Incumbent) | 10,363 | 96.67 | ||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ± | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Kurt Daudt (Incumbent) | 11,990 | 60.42 | ||
| DFL | Ryan Fiereck | 7,823 | 39.42 | ||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ± | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Kurt Daudt | 9,840 | 56.04 | ||
| DFL | Jim Godfrey | 7,044 | 40.11 | ||
| Constitution | Paul Bergley | 657 | 3.74 | ||
Tenure
Daudt was first elected in 2010. After Republicans won a House majority in the 2014 mid-term elections, Daudt was selected by Republicans to become Speaker of the Minnesota House of Representatives for the session beginning in 2015. Daudt was elected as Speaker of the Minnesota House of Representatives by the full House on January 6, 2015.
During the 2016 US Presidential election, Daudt initially gave his endorsement to the Republican nominee, Donald Trump. On October 8, 2016, he joined others in his party in rescinding his endorsement and calling for the nominee to step down.
Committee assignments
He serves on the Elections Committee and the Rules and Legislative Administration Committee for the 2013-2015 Session. He previously served on the Commerce and Regulatory Reform, the Higher Education Policy and Finance, and the Redistricting committees, as well as on the Taxes Subcommittee for the Property and Local Tax Division.