# Paul Torkelson Paul Torkelson is a Republican member of the Minnesota House for district 15B. - Party: Republican - Seat: Minnesota House, district 15B - Serving since: 2023-01-03 - Current term: MN 2025–26 session - Open States ID: ocd-person/380875c6-dc4c-4062-8c2d-f5b80dd64c4c Source: https://americaspoliticalpulse.com/p/380875c6-dc4c-4062-8c2d-f5b80dd64c4c (America’s Political Pulse, Polarization Research Lab), data through 2026-10-27. Data under CC BY 4.0. Cite as: Westwood, Sean J., and Yphtach Lelkes. 2024. America's Political Pulse [data set]. ## Headline 0% of Torkelson’s itemized money in the 2026 cycle came from Minnesota, in the bottom 5% of State House Republicans. ## What Torkelson says (MN 2025–26 session) 2 classified statements: 2 posts on X. Each rate is the share of statements with the label, against the State House Republicans average; rank 1 is the highest rate. | Label | Torkelson | State House Republicans average | Rank | |---|---|---|---| | Personal attacks | 0.0% | 2.9% | 643 of 792 | | Policy criticism | 0.0% | 9.3% | 736 of 792 | | Policy discussion | 0.0% | 31.9% | 780 of 792 | | Bipartisanship | 0.0% | 1.8% | 678 of 792 | | Credit claiming | 0.0% | 12.7% | 764 of 792 | | Extreme labels | 0.0% | 1.4% | 619 of 792 | ## Ideology (CSIP) CSIP score +0.15 (standard error 0.01), from 39 donors and 771 roll calls. Negative is left of 0, positive right of it, on one scale for every official. 19% of State House Republicans score lower. ## Votes (MN 2025–26 session) 297 roll calls. Attendance 100% (Minnesota House 100%). Party unity 93.7% (97.5%). 10 votes against the party majority. Key votes: - 2026-05-17 · voted yea · Niska Motion Suspension of Rules · HF 1849 Term limits provided for governor and lieutenant governor, and constitutional amendment proposed. · fail · https://openstates.org/mn/bills/2025-2026/HF1849/ - 2026-05-17 · voted yea · Passage, as amended · HF 2354 Medical assistance fraud governing provisions added and modified, attorney general provided subpoena and enforcement authority, criminal penalties… · pass · https://openstates.org/mn/bills/2025-2026/HF2354/ - 2026-05-17 · voted nay · Long motion Suspension of Rules · HF 5149 Law enforcement access to sensitive locations restricted, civil remedies established, concealing identity crime modified, scope of use of force… · pass · https://openstates.org/mn/bills/2025-2026/HF5149/ - 2026-05-17 · voted yea · Repassage, as amended by Conference · SF 4612 Omnibus Health and Human Services supplemental appropriations · pass · https://openstates.org/mn/bills/2025-2026/SF4612/ - 2026-05-17 · voted yea · Passage · SF 334 Human Services Systems Modernization Advisory Council and Legislative Commission on Human Services Systems; creation · pass · https://openstates.org/mn/bills/2025-2026/SF334/ - 2026-05-17 · voted yea · Passage, as amended · SF 5200 Miscellaneous oversights, inconsistencies, ambiguities, unintended results, and technical errors correction · pass · https://openstates.org/mn/bills/2025-2026/SF5200/ - 2026-05-17 · voted yea · Niska motion Take from the table · HF 2133 Income tax; pass-through entity tax technical correction made. · fail · https://openstates.org/mn/bills/2025-2026/HF2133/ - 2026-05-17 · voted yea · Passage, as amended · SF 1943 Pet shops prohibition from selling cats and dogs · pass · https://openstates.org/mn/bills/2025-2026/SF1943/ - 2026-05-17 · voted nay · Passage · SF 4401 Omnibus Cannabis bill · pass · https://openstates.org/mn/bills/2025-2026/SF4401/ - 2026-05-17 · voted yea · Repassage, as amended by Conference · SF 4476 Omnibus Human Services supplemental appropriations · pass · https://openstates.org/mn/bills/2025-2026/SF4476/ ## Legislation (MN 2025–26 session) Sponsored 33 bills: 33 reached committee, 0 passed one chamber, 0 passed both, 0 became law. Cosponsored 19. 0.0% of sponsored bills got out of committee (Minnesota House 4.4%; rank 114 of 131). Recent sponsored bills: - HF 5033: Redwood Falls Municipal Airport improvements funding provided, bonds issued, and money appropriated. (in committee, 2026-04-20) https://openstates.org/mn/bills/2025-2026/HF5033/ - HF 5032: Redwood Falls; bridge restoration funding provided, bonds issued, and money appropriated. (in committee, 2026-04-20) https://openstates.org/mn/bills/2025-2026/HF5032/ - HF 4927: Hanska; new water tower funding provided, bonds issued, and money appropriated. (in committee, 2026-04-09) https://openstates.org/mn/bills/2025-2026/HF4927/ - HF 4928: Lower Sioux Indian Community grant funding provided for renewable energy, reports required, and money appropriated. (in committee, 2026-04-16) https://openstates.org/mn/bills/2025-2026/HF4928/ - HF 4930: Comfrey; stormwater system improvement funding provided, bonds issued, and money appropriated. (in committee, 2026-04-09) https://openstates.org/mn/bills/2025-2026/HF4930/ - HF 4808: Human Services Systems Modernization Advisory Council and a Legislative Commission on Human Services Systems created, modernization fund and eligible uses… (in committee, 2026-05-16) https://openstates.org/mn/bills/2025-2026/HF4808/ - HF 4786: Assisted living facility design requirements exemption provided. (in committee, 2026-03-26) https://openstates.org/mn/bills/2025-2026/HF4786/ - HF 4666: Money transferred from the family and medical benefit insurance account to the general fund. (in committee, 2026-03-25) https://openstates.org/mn/bills/2025-2026/HF4666/ - HF 4259: Number of members of the house of representatives and the senate modified. (in committee, 2026-03-12) https://openstates.org/mn/bills/2025-2026/HF4259/ - HF 3993: Amount excluded from the Minnesota taxable estate increased, and conforming changes made. (in committee, 2026-03-23) https://openstates.org/mn/bills/2025-2026/HF3993/ ## Campaign money (2026 cycle) Itemized receipts $11.6K (State House Republicans median $33.7K). 0% of itemized individual money came from in state. Aggregates only; no individual donors. ## Recent statements Newest first. Posts on X are listed by date and link only. - 2026-02-17 · Post on X · https://x.com/Paul_Torkelson/status/2023738534973018474 - 2025-07-20 · Post on X · https://x.com/Paul_Torkelson/status/1947018560238493981 ## Links - Official site: https://www.house.mn.gov/members/profile/15304 - Campaign site: https://ptorkelson.com/ - X: https://x.com/Paul_Torkelson - Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/people/Paul-Torkelson/100006970126816/ - Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ptorkels - LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/paul-torkelson-778b1711/ Full profile, with every chart and the methods: https://americaspoliticalpulse.com/p/380875c6-dc4c-4062-8c2d-f5b80dd64c4c