Representative Jeff Backer Contact information

Jeff Backer Jr. was born on January 3, 1967, in Browns Valley, Minnesota. He is an American politician serving in the Minnesota House of Representatives since 2015. He is a member of the Republican Party of Minnesota and represents District 9A in western Minnesota, which includes the city of Fergus Falls, Grant, Traverse, and Wilkin Counties, and parts of Otter Tail County.

Backer was born and raised in Browns Valley, Minnesota, and graduated from Browns Valley High School. He attended St. Cloud State University, earning a Bachelor of Science degree in chemistry and public administration. Backer has served as a volunteer EMT for Browns Valley Ambulance since 1995. He was a member of the Minnesota Board of Peace Officer Standards and Training from 2007 to 2010.

He served as a member of the Browns Valley School Board, and was elected to Browns Valley City Council in 2000. Backer was elected mayor in 2004 and served until 2010. Backer was mayor during a major flood in 2007 in Browns Valley and sought federal and state disaster assistance, eventually receiving $2 million in flood relief from the state legislature. Following the flood, Backer led efforts on a flood prevention and control project.

Backer was elected to the Minnesota House of Representatives in 2014 and has been reelected every two years since. He defeated one-term DFL incumbent Jay McNamar. Backer serves as the minority lead for the Legacy Finance Committee, and also sits on the Health Finance and Policy and Human Services Policy Committees.

Backer has opposed environmental protections and agricultural regulations, calling them “reckless” and “irresponsible”. He sponsored bills to limit the authority of Governor Mark Dayton’s administration to make rules on farm fertilizers, and criticized Dayton’s executive orders to protect pollinators.

Backer is a small-business owner. He is married to Judy and they have one child.