Betty McCollum

Before Betty McCollum went to Congress, she taught high school social studies and worked in retail at Sears and Dayton's.¹ Her first push into local politics came after her daughter was injured on a slide in a North St. Paul park.¹ She began advocating for safer parks and later served six years on the City Council.¹

McCollum grew up in South St. Paul and earned an associate degree at Inver Hills Community College and a bachelor's degree in education at the College of St. Catherine, now St. Catherine University.¹ Her parents were a flight attendant and a World War II veteran.¹ She spent 25 years in retail sales and management.² She has two adult children and two grandsons and lives in St. Paul.¹

She served in the Minnesota Legislature before winning election to Congress in 2000 and taking office in January 2001.³ She now serves on the Appropriations Committee as its Defense Subcommittee's top Democrat and also sits on the Interior and Environment Subcommittee.² Her spending priorities include support for tribal nations, national parks, environmental protection and the arts.¹

McCollum supports strengthening the Affordable Care Act, universal health coverage, education funding and infrastructure investment.² She has introduced legislation seeking permanent protection for federal lands in the Boundary Waters watershed from new copper mining, while preserving limited exceptions for materials such as iron ore and taconite.⁴