Representative Tina Liebling Contact information

Tina Liebling, born in 1953, is a distinguished attorney and politician from Minnesota. She is a member of the Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party (DFL) and represents District 26A, which is primarily the city of Rochester in Olmsted County, located in southeastern Minnesota.

Early Life and Education: Liebling was born and raised in Minneapolis, Minnesota, the daughter of the renowned photographer Jerome Liebling. After her family moved away from the area, she returned to attend the University of Minnesota, earning a B.A. in Spanish and graduating magna cum laude. She furthered her education at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst, where she received an M.S. in Public Health. Following this, she attended Boston University School of Law, graduating cum laude with a J.D.

Political Career: Liebling’s political career began in 2002, when she first ran for the District 30A seat, finishing second behind former state representative Carla Nelson in a three-way race. She ran again in 2002, defeating Nelson with 50.75% of the vote. She and Andy Welti, a former DFL representative from neighboring District 30B, were part of large DFL gains in the Minnesota House in 2004. The two were the first Democrats to represent the Rochester area, a traditionally Republican stronghold, in many years. She was sworn in on January 4, 2005.

Liebling was re-elected in 2006 with 52.76% of the vote, again defeating Carla Nelson. In the 2008 election, she faced Rochester businessman Jacob Dettinger, defeating him with 61.81% of the vote. In the 2010 election, she defeated Charlie O’Connell, garnering 55.15% of the vote to O’Connell’s 44.73%. In 2012, running in a slightly altered district due to redistricting, she defeated Breanna Bly, a Rochester School Board member, 58.8% to 41.0%. She again defeated Breanna Bly in the 2014 election, winning 55.2% to 44.7%. In 2016, she defeated political novice Will Waggoner 59.9% to 40.0%. In 2018, she had her largest percentage of votes ever, winning over former Olmsted County Commissioner Paul Wilson 63.2% to 36.6%.

She served as an assistant majority leader during the 2007-08 session, but declined to serve again in that position for the 2009-10 biennium. She became the DFL lead on the Health and Human Services (HHS) Reform Committee for the 2011-12 biennium and also served on the Health and Human Service Finance and Judiciary Policy and Finance Committees.

Personal Life: Liebling is married and has three children. She currently resides in Rochester, Minnesota.