Ray Vandeveer

Who is Ray Vandeveer?

Ray Vandeveer is a Minnesota politician and a member of the Minnesota Senate representing District 52, which includes portions of Anoka and Washington counties in the northeastern Twin Cities metropolitan area. A Republican, he was first elected to the Senate in 2006, and was re-elected in 2010.

Prior to being elected to the Senate, Vandeveer was a member of the Minnesota House of Representatives, representing District 52A and, prior to the 2002 redistricting, the old District 51B. He was first elected to the House in a January 1998 special election after Rep. Doug Swenson was appointed a district judge by Governor Arne Carlson. He was re-elected that November in the general election and, again, in 2000, 2002 and 2004. He chaired the House Taxes Subcommittee for the Property and Local Tax Division during the 2005-2006 legislative session.

Vandeveer is currently chair of the Senate Local Government and Elections Committee, and is also a member of the Senate Commerce and Consumer Protection and the Senate Energy, Utilities and Telecommunications committees. His special legislative concerns include taxes, education, transportation, and crime prevention.

Vandeveer is a real estate appraiser by profession. He graduated from Columbia Heights High School in Columbia Heights, then went on to St. Cloud State University in St. Cloud, where he earned his B.S. in Marketing in 1975. He is a former member of the Forest Lake Planning Commission, and of the Mounds View Charter Commission. He is currently a member of the Greater Minneapolis Area Board of Realtors.