List of majority leaders of the Minnesota Senate

This is a list of majority leaders of the Minnesota Senate. The majority leader is the head of the majority party in the Minnesota Senate, and is the most powerful political figure in the body.

Majority Leader of the Minnesota Senate
Incumbent Erin Murphy since February 6, 2024
Inaugural holder	Charles N. Orr
Formation	January 1933

List

No.	Name	Took office	Left office	Party/caucus
1	Charles N. Orr	1933	1949		Conservative
2	Archie H. Miller	1949	1959		Conservative
3	John M. Zwach	1959	1967		Conservative
4	Stanley W. Holmquist	1967	1973		Conservative
5	Nick Coleman	1973	1981		Democratic-Farmer-Labor
6	Roger Moe	1981	2003		Democratic-Farmer-Labor
7	John Hottinger	2003	2004		Democratic-Farmer-Labor
8	Dean Johnson	2004	2007		Democratic-Farmer-Labor
9	Larry Pogemiller	2007	2011		Democratic-Farmer-Labor
10	Amy Koch	2011	2011		Republican
11	Dave Senjem	2011	2013		Republican
12	Tom Bakk	2013	2017		Democratic-Farmer-Labor
13	Paul Gazelka	2017	2021		Republican
14	Mark Johnson (acting)	2021	2021		Republican
15	Jeremy Miller	2021	2023		Republican
16	Kari Dziedzic	2023	2024		Democratic-Farmer-Labor
17	Erin Murphy	2024	incumbent		Democratic-Farmer-Labor

Notes

• Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party: On April 15, 1944 the state Democratic Party and the Minnesota Farmer-Labor Party merged and created the Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party (DFL). It is affiliated with the national Democratic Party.
• Republican Party of Minnesota: From November 15, 1975 to September 23, 1995 the name of the state Republican party was the Independent-Republican party (I-R). The party has always been affiliated with the national Republican Party.

In 1913, Minnesota legislators began to be elected on nonpartisan ballots. Nonpartisanship also was an historical accident that occurred in the 1913 session when a bill to provide for no party elections of judges and city and county officers was amended to include the Legislature in the belief that it would kill the bill. Legislators ran and caucused as "Liberals" or "Conservatives" roughly equivalent in most years to Democratic-Farmer-Labor and Republican, respectively. The law was changed in 1973, in 1976, Senate members again ran with party designation.