Terry Dempsey

Who is Terry Dempsey?

Terence M. "Terry" Dempsey is a Minnesota politician and a former member of the Minnesota House of Representatives who represented the old House districts 23A and 28B, which included all or portions of Brown, Cottonwood, Nicollet and Redwood counties in the south central part of the state. A Republican, he was an attorney and partner in the New Ulm law firm of Somsen, Dempsey and Schade. Later, he served as a Minnesota district court judge.

Dempsey was first elected to the House in 1978, unseating former New Ulm mayor and incumbent Rep. Tony Eckstein. He was re-elected to six additional terms. He served as minority leader from 1991 to 1992, and was an assistant minority leader from 1987 to 1991. He was chair of the Taxes Subcommittee for the Local Government Finance Division, and chair of the Rules and Legislative Administration Subcommittee's Select Committee on the Staten Case during the 1985-1986 Biennium.

Raised in Henderson, Dempsey attended the College of St. Thomas in Saint Paul, earning his bachelor's degree in Political Science. He served as a pilot in the United States Air Force for three years.