Jacobs, Lawrence R.2020-09-212020-09-212008-10-23https://hdl.handle.net/11299/216258The Bipartisan Path to Energy Independence The Center for the Study of Politics and Governance hosted a series of public forums with the major party candidates for Minnesota's U.S. Senate seat to foster informed and substantive discussion of important matters of public policy. The forums created an opportunity for the candidates to rise above the talking points and fractious back-and-forth of the campaign to address the important policy challenges facing Minnesota and the country. It also created a forum for students and citizens to listen and raise questions with the candidates. Norm Coleman was raised in Brooklyn, New York. He received a bachelor’s degree from Hofstra University and a law degree from the University of Iowa Law School. After law school, he worked for 17 years with the Minnesota Attorney General’s office. From 1994 to 2002, Coleman served as the mayor of Saint Paul. Previously a member of the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party (DFL), Coleman switched to the Republican Party in 1996. In 1998, he ran for governor and narrowly lost to Independent candidate Jesse Ventura in a three way race. In 2002 Coleman was elected to the U.S. Senate. Coleman is a member of four Senate committees including the Foreign Relations Committee; Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship; Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry Committee; and the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs. He also serves on the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, the Special Committee on Aging, and the Subcommittee on Near Eastern and South and Central Asian Affairs.enNorm ColemanPresentation