# Heather Gustafson

Heather Gustafson is a Democratic member of the Minnesota Senate for district 36.

- Party: Democrat
- Seat: Minnesota Senate, district 36
- Serving since: 2023-01-03
- Current term: MN 2025–26 session
- Open States ID: ocd-person/9411a121-c47d-431a-b407-88ff5c891c5f

Source: https://americaspoliticalpulse.com/p/9411a121-c47d-431a-b407-88ff5c891c5f (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

19% of Gustafson’s statements use bipartisan language, 5.5 times the State Senate Democrat average of 3.4%.

## What Gustafson says (MN 2025–26 session)

219 classified statements: 219 posts on X. Each rate is the share of statements with the label, against the State Senate Democrats average; rank 1 is the highest rate.

| Label | Gustafson | State Senate Democrats average | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Personal attacks | 1.4% | 2.4% | 122 of 329 |
| Policy criticism | 11.9% | 10.3% | 113 of 329 |
| Policy discussion | 42.5% | 42.9% | 173 of 329 |
| Bipartisanship | 18.7% | 3.4% | 4 of 329 |
| Credit claiming | 25.6% | 16.1% | 67 of 329 |
| Extreme labels | 0.0% | 0.8% | 228 of 329 |

Most discussed policy areas: Government Operations and Politics 34% (State Senate Democrats 14%); Education 24% (State Senate Democrats 15%); Economics and Public Finance 13% (State Senate Democrats 10%); Crime and Law Enforcement 12% (State Senate Democrats 8.4%); Agriculture and Food 11% (State Senate Democrats 4.7%).

## Ideology (CSIP)

CSIP score −0.60 (standard error 0.04), from 162 donors and 123 roll calls. Negative is left of 0, positive right of it, on one scale for every official. 59% of State Senate Democrats score lower.

## Votes (MN 2025–26 session)

153 roll calls. Attendance 100% (Minnesota Senate 100%). Party unity 98.3% (93.0%). 2 votes against the party majority.

Key votes:

- 2026-05-17 · voted yea · Third reading Passed as amended · SF 3967 Due date of the pediatric hospital-to-home transition pilot program report modification · pass · https://openstates.org/mn/bills/2025-2026/SF3967/
- 2026-05-17 · voted yea · Third reading Passed as amended · HF 3629 Program payment withholding provided for credible allegation of fraud, grant management provisions changed, and program integrity reports required. · pass · https://openstates.org/mn/bills/2025-2026/HF3629/
- 2026-05-17 · voted yea · Third reading Passed · HF 719 Safe routes to school grant program funding provided, bonds issued, and money appropriated. · pass · https://openstates.org/mn/bills/2025-2026/HF719/
- 2026-05-17 · voted yea · Third reading Passed as amended · HF 4492 Read Act modified, early literacy field experiences required for teacher candidates, high school diploma established for veterans, and rulemaking… · pass · https://openstates.org/mn/bills/2025-2026/HF4492/
- 2026-05-17 · voted yea · Third reading Passed · HF 2484 Bonding bill; spending authorized to acquire and better land and buildings and for other improvements of a capital nature, new programs established… · pass · https://openstates.org/mn/bills/2025-2026/HF2484/
- 2026-05-17 · voted nay · Motion did not prevail for urgency, rules suspension, pursuant to rule 34.1 · HF 4102 State Patrol compensation study requirements modified, and volunteer chaplains allowed within the state patrol. · pass · https://openstates.org/mn/bills/2025-2026/HF4102/
- 2026-05-17 · voted yea · Senate adopted CC report and repassed bill · HF 2438 Taxation bill; financing and operation of state and local government provided. · pass · https://openstates.org/mn/bills/2025-2026/HF2438/
- 2026-05-17 · voted yea · Third Reading Repassed · HF 4188 Commerce policy bill. · pass · https://openstates.org/mn/bills/2025-2026/HF4188/
- 2026-05-17 · voted yea · Third Reading Repassed · HF 2438 Taxation bill; financing and operation of state and local government provided. · pass · https://openstates.org/mn/bills/2025-2026/HF2438/
- 2026-05-16 · voted nay · Motion to reject CC report, did not prevail · HF 3900 Permanent school fund investment, management, and distribution policy modified; and constitutional amendment proposed. · fail · https://openstates.org/mn/bills/2025-2026/HF3900/

## Legislation (MN 2025–26 session)

Sponsored 75 bills: 75 reached committee, 1 passed one chamber, 1 passed both, 1 became law. Cosponsored 123. 1.3% of sponsored bills got out of committee (Minnesota Senate 3.1%; rank 33 of 67).

Recent sponsored bills:

- SF 5301: Minnesota Entrepreneurship Task Force establishment (in committee, 2026-05-16) https://openstates.org/mn/bills/2025-2026/SF5301/
- SF 5181: Career rule creation for teachers aged 60 with 30 years of service (in committee, 2026-04-28) https://openstates.org/mn/bills/2025-2026/SF5181/
- SF 5149: Portion of Ramsey County State-Aid Highway 96 designation as "Master Sergeant Nicole Amor Memorial Highway" (in committee, 2026-04-27) https://openstates.org/mn/bills/2025-2026/SF5149/
- SF 5007: Academy for Sciences and Agriculture grant appropriation (in committee, 2026-04-09) https://openstates.org/mn/bills/2025-2026/SF5007/
- SF 4873: Registry for repeat domestic violence offenders establishment (in committee, 2026-04-09) https://openstates.org/mn/bills/2025-2026/SF4873/
- SF 4874: State contracts preclusion with a person or business convicted of fraud (in committee, 2026-04-07) https://openstates.org/mn/bills/2025-2026/SF4874/
- SF 4889: Noncommercial radio station grants eligibility modifications and appropriation (in committee, 2026-05-16) https://openstates.org/mn/bills/2025-2026/SF4889/
- SF 4870: North Oaks authorization to connect to the sanitary sewer system of the Metropolitan Council and be included within the Metropolitan Urban Service Area (in committee, 2026-03-26) https://openstates.org/mn/bills/2025-2026/SF4870/
- SF 4735: Age deception cases criminal sentencing modifications (in committee, 2026-04-07) https://openstates.org/mn/bills/2025-2026/SF4735/
- SF 4630: Schools requirement to implement a wearable panic alert system (in committee, 2026-03-25) https://openstates.org/mn/bills/2025-2026/SF4630/

## Campaign money (2026 cycle)

Itemized receipts $64.5K (State Senate Democrats median $55.5K). -1.5% 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.

- 2026-08-28 · Post on X · labels: policy discussion, bipartisanship · https://x.com/SenGustafson/status/2093153126853349422
- 2026-08-21 · Post on X · labels: policy discussion, credit claiming · https://x.com/SenGustafson/status/2090906700471816480
- 2026-08-13 · Post on X · https://x.com/SenGustafson/status/2087945923720577154
- 2026-08-07 · Post on X · labels: credit claiming · https://x.com/SenGustafson/status/2085747637878211029
- 2026-07-08 · Post on X · labels: bipartisanship · https://x.com/SenGustafson/status/2074887734284427315
- 2026-06-26 · Post on X · labels: policy discussion, bipartisanship, credit claiming · https://x.com/SenGustafson/status/2070484884318003712
- 2026-06-22 · Post on X · labels: bipartisanship, credit claiming · https://x.com/SenGustafson/status/2069127116654850362
- 2026-06-15 · Post on X · labels: policy discussion, bipartisanship, credit claiming · https://x.com/SenGustafson/status/2066547138536882638
- 2026-06-15 · Post on X · labels: bipartisanship · https://x.com/SenGustafson/status/2066547603274125618
- 2026-06-11 · Post on X · https://x.com/SenGustafson/status/2065058386580828594

## Links

- Official site: https://www.senate.mn/members/member_bio.html?mem_id=1263
- Campaign site: https://www.voteheathergustafson.com/
- X: https://x.com/SenGustafson
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/voteheathergustafson/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/heatherhgustafson

Full profile, with every chart and the methods: https://americaspoliticalpulse.com/p/9411a121-c47d-431a-b407-88ff5c891c5f