Zellers selected as new Minnesota House GOP leader

Published 10:25 am Wednesday, June 24, 2009

Maple Grove Republican Kurt Zellers is promising to respect the taxpayers’ money and find ways to make government work better as the new leader of his party in the Minnesota House.

Zellers won about 70 percent of the votes Tuesday from the Republican caucus’ 47 members. He replaces Marty Seifert, who’s preparing to run for governor.

The 39-year-old Zellers is an account executive with a Minneapolis public relations firm and built his career in politics by helping other politicians with communication work.

Email newsletter signup

Zellers says he will focus on raising money and recruiting candidates to help build the GOP caucus, which lost its majority because of DFL victories in 2006.

He grew up near Devils Lake, N.D. and played football at the University of North Dakota before moving to the Twin Cities after college.