Lori Sturdevant presents Martin Sabo with Margaret Anderson Kelliher

US Congressman Martin Sabo’s early work in Minnesota state government set the mold for how state legislatures across the country have operated since, and continues to wield influence today.

Best known as US Representative of Minnesota’s Fifth District, Martin Sabo also made significant contributions to American political life while serving in the Minnesota state Legislature.

Minnesota has long been acknowledged as the state that works. Its government has been celebrated, if occasionally contested, and has been emulated by other states for decades. But today’s modern, professional state legislature was not inevitable. In the late 1960s–early 1970s Minnesota took a giant step toward a state government that fairly represents all the state’s regions and populations, one that operates in public view. It was a government that shouldered increased responsibility for the education and well-being of its citizens. And it served as an operational model for legislatures around the country.

At the center of those changes was a modest young man from tiny Alkabo, North Dakota, Martin Olav Sabo. Sabo demonstrated an understanding of representative democracy and a quality of leadership that made him a highly effective catalyst for positive change. He spent his entire adult life in public service, but it was during his years as DFL minority leader and as speaker of the Minnesota House that he did his most transformative and lasting work. Enhancing Sabo’s rich legacy, this volume focuses attention on his early career and the systemic, enduring contributions to governance he initiated.

Lori Sturdevant reported on state and local politics during a forty-three-year career at the Minnesota Star Tribune. The author or editor of thirteen books, she is a three-time winner of the Minnesota Book Award. She lives in St. Paul.

Margaret Anderson Kelliher, appointed by Mayor Jacob Frey and confirmed by the Minneapolis City Council in 2024, serves as the City Operations Officer for the City of Minneapolis. In this role, she oversees Civil Rights, Public Works, and seventeen departments under Internal Services, Communications and Engagement, and Development, Health and Livability.

Prior to this, she served as Commissioner of Transportation in Minnesota, focusing on safety, climate resiliency, and equity in transportation. Additionally, she led the Minnesota Technology Association, chaired Governor Dayton’s Broadband Taskforce, and established a paid internship program for small businesses and students in technology and sciences.

For twelve years she was elected to the Minnesota House of representatives, rising to the role of Speaker of the House of Minnesota.

Anderson Kelliher has a background in politics, having been Speaker of the House in Minnesota from 2007 to 2011. During her tenure, she championed renewable energy, transportation investment, and the Legacy Amendment for clean water and conservation. Raised on a family farm in southern Minnesota, she holds a Master’s Degree from Harvard Kennedy School of Government. She resides in Minneapolis with her husband and enjoys outdoor activities, art, and reading in her spare time.

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