Representative Joe McDonald Contact information

Joseph P. McDonald, born on July 21, 1966, is an American politician who has been serving in the Minnesota House of Representatives since 2011. He is a member of the Republican Party of Minnesota and represents District 29A, which is located northwest of the Twin Cities metropolitan area. This district includes the cities of Delano and Rockford and parts of Wright, Meeker, and Hennepin Counties.

McDonald was born in Watertown, Minnesota, to parents of Irish descent. His father, K. J. McDonald, served as a Minnesota state representative from 1977 to 1991, and also served as the mayor of Watertown. McDonald graduated from Hennepin Technical College with an A.A. in photography. He furthered his education by earning his master’s degree in photography in 2003 and his Craftsman’s degree in photography in 2008. He is a professional photographer and business owner.

Before his election to the state legislature, McDonald was a member of the Delano School Board and served on the city council from 2000 to 2006. He also served as the mayor of Delano from 2007 until his election to the state legislature.

McDonald was elected to the Minnesota House of Representatives in 2010 and has been reelected every two years since then. He first ran for office after three-term incumbent Tom Emmer announced he would not run for reelection in order to run for governor of Minnesota.

In the Minnesota House of Representatives, McDonald serves as the minority lead for the Labor and Industry Finance and Policy Committee and sits on the Higher Education Finance and Policy Committee. He has opposed legislation that would ban noncompete clauses for many workers, and a bill that would allow a lower minimum wage for tipped employees. He authored a bill to fully repeal the estate tax.

McDonald has supported reforms to the Metropolitan Council, a regional transit planning agency, saying, “we’ll do everything we can to make sure the Met Council doesn’t put its tentacles into our county”. He has voted to repeal gun permit laws in Minnesota. He has said he was open to restoring voting rights to felons in 2020, but advocated for a standalone bill vote.

McDonald is married to Rachel and they have three children. They reside in Delano, Minnesota.