Arne Carlson

Early years, education and family

Born in New York City, the son of Swedish immigrants from Gothenburg (father) and Visby (mother), Carlson attended New York City public schools P.S. 36 and DeWitt Clinton High School in the Bronx before gaining a scholarship to attend The Choate School (now Choate Rosemary Hall) in Wallingford, Connecticut. He graduated from Williams College in Williamstown, Massachusetts, in 1957. He later attended graduate school at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis.

Carlson was married to Barbara Carlson from 1965 to 1977. After their divorce she became known in her own right as a Minneapolis City Councilwoman and a talk show personality. Together, they had a son, Tucker (no relation to the media personality), and two daughters, Kristin (deceased) and Anne, who has two children, Allie and Drew Davis. Carlson's second wife was Joanne Chabot. They had no children. After their divorce, he married Susan Shepard, with whom he has a daughter, Jessica. Susan served as First Lady of Minnesota from 1991 to 1999.

Minneapolis city council, Minnesota House, state auditor

Carlson served one term on the Minneapolis City Council from 1965 to 1967, and was the Republican candidate for mayor in 1967, losing to Democratic-Farmer-Labor incumbent Arthur Naftalin. He was a member of the Minnesota House of Representatives from January 1971 to January 4, 1979. In 1978, he ran for and was elected state auditor. He was reelected in 1982 and 1986, serving in that position from January 4, 1979 to January 7, 1991.

Gubernatorial campaigns and service as governor

Carlson was elected the 37th governor of Minnesota in the November 1990 general election, and served from January 7, 1991, to January 4, 1999. He won as a member of the Independent-Republican Party. In September 1995, the party changed its name to, simply, the "Republican Party."

A scandal arose in the 1990 election after the initial Republican nominee, businessman Jon Grunseth, beat Carlson in the primary. On October 15, it was revealed that, in 1981, Grunseth had invited three then-teenaged friends of his stepdaughter, as well as his stepdaughter herself, to go skinny-dipping in the pool at his home.

A bipartisan group, Minnesotans for the ''WRITE'' Choice, launched a statewide write-in media campaign six weeks before the general election, when the allegations of impropriety first surfaced. The campaign group focused media attention on Carlson's candidacy and Grunseth's problems.

Carlson had come in second in the primary to the more conservative Grunseth, and thus became the Republican nominee when Grunseth dropped out.

Generally considered a moderate, Carlson presented himself as a less polarizing leader than the incumbent governor, Rudy Perpich. He won the general election by 3 percentage points.

In 1993, Carlson served as Chairman of the Midwestern Governors Association. That same year he signed into law the Minnesota Human Rights Act, which banned LGBT discrimination in housing, employment, and education.

In 1994, the delegates to the Minnesota Republican Party State Convention viewed Carlson as too liberal, and endorsed instead Allen Quist and Doug McFarland. Carlson and running mate Joanne E. Benson nevertheless won the September state primary, and won the November general election by a large margin, 63% to 34%, over Democratic candidate John Marty.

As governor, Carlson was well known for being a big fan of University of Minnesota sports; his official portrait in the Minnesota State Capitol shows him wearing a letter jacket from the school.

Politically active retirement

Carlson has remained politically active in retirement. In a speech at the state capitol on October 23, 2008, he endorsed Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama. In 2010, he announced that he would embark on a "Paul Revere" tour of Minnesota to bring attention to fiscal problems facing the state. In 2010, he again broke with his party to endorse Independence Party candidate Tom Horner in Minnesota's gubernatorial race and Tim Walz for Congress. In a narrow vote by the state Republican central committee, Carlson and 17 others were banned for 2 years from participating in party events, described by Politico as a "stunning purge."

Following the July 1, 2011, shutdown of the state government after Governor Mark Dayton and state legislative leaders could not agree on a budget, Carlson teamed with Walter Mondale and several other prominent political and business leaders to propose a nonpartisan budget commission.

Carlson and Mondale also teamed to oppose a Voter ID amendment to the state constitution in the 2012 election. The amendment was defeated.

Carlson is a member of the ReFormers Caucus of Issue One.

In a June 2016 interview with City Pages, Carlson endorsed Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton.

Electoral history