Senator Melissa Halvorson Wiklund is serving her fourth term in the Minnesota Senate representing Senate District 51, which includes the cities of Bloomington and Richfield. Wiklund’s legislative priorities include education (with a particular focus on early childhood), health care (with a particular focus on children’s mental health), and job creation. Wiklund has also emphasized building up community support systems to help families and reduce the achievement gap.

Sen. Wiklund is chair of the Health and Human Services Committee, and serves on the Commerce and Consumer Protection Committee, Finance Committee, and Human Services Committee.

Before her service in the Senate, Wiklund served on the Bloomington School Board for three years, the last as Chair. She worked in the telecommunications and Internet Services industry as an engineer, manager, and director and is an honors graduate of the University of Minnesota with degrees in Electrical Engineering and Interior Design. Wiklund graduated from Kennedy High School and lives in Bloomington with her husband, Craig, and their two children.

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