Senator Erin P. Murphy is a Democratic-Farmer-Labor member of the Minnesota Senate, representing District 64 in Ramsey County, including portions of Saint Paul. Born March 13, 1960, in Columbus, Wisconsin, she grew up in Janesville, Wisconsin, in a working-class family; her mother worked various jobs and her father was a union autoworker at General Motors. She moved to Minnesota in 1988, lives in Saint Paul with her husband Joe Faust, and has two grown children. A registered nurse, she is the first woman to represent District 64 in the Senate and currently serves as Senate Majority Leader , Chair of the Rules and Administration Committee, and a member of the Finance and Higher Education Committees. Notable achievements include leading her caucus through a historic legislative biennium recognized nationally for its impact, serving five terms in the Minnesota House , winning the DFL gubernatorial endorsement in 2018 , and prior roles as executive director of the Minnesota Nurses Association, legislative director for former Attorney General Hubert H. Humphrey II, and community relations director for the Minnesota Department of Children, Families and Learning.

Education and Political Experience

• Education: Attended the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh; earned an M.A. in organizational leadership in health care from the College of St. Catherine in Saint Paul; policy fellow at the Humphrey Institute, University of Minnesota.
• Political Experience:
  • Minnesota House of Representatives: Elected 2006, re-elected 2008, 2010, 2012, 2014, 2016 ; served as Majority Leader.
  • Candidate for Governor: 2018 .
  • Minnesota Senate: Elected 2020 , re-elected 2022 ; Senate Majority Leader since 2024.