Kurt P. Bills is an Americanteacher. He has taught and coached high school since 1994. He served on the RosemountCity Council from 2008 to 2010, receiving the most votes out of a 26-person field without posting a single yard sign. He then served in the Minnesota House of Representatives from 2011 to 2012. In 2012, he received the Republican nomination for United States Senate and ran against Democratic incumbent Amy Klobuchar. Klobuchar was reelected by a margin of 35%. Bills never left the classroom during his stint in politics, choosing to teach at least one class even while running a statewide race.
In 2008, Bills was elected to the Rosemount City Council from a field of 26 candidates. Bills cited his students for his reason to enter the political arena. In Bills words: "In 2007, when studying fiscal policy, national debt, deficits, and entitlements, a student asked why solutions are not sought if we know that we have structural problems. I explained how politicians make self-interested choices just like the rest of us. After a short discussion about party structure, media and election cycle politics, one of my more politically active students, in a mixture of depression, anger and frustration asked, 'Mr. Bills, what are we supposed to do about this?'"
Bills ran for the Minnesota House of Representatives in 2010 in District 37B. He defeated incumbent Democratic State Representative Phil Sterner, 58%–42%.
Tenure
Bills's district included Rosemount and parts of Apple Valley, in the southeastern Twin Cities metropolitan area. Bills was a chief author of bills supporting scholarships for early high school graduation; reduction of pay for legislators if the budget were not balanced by the end of the legislative session; and making gold and silver legal tender in Minnesota. On May 21, 2011, Bills joined the House Republican Majority in voting for a constitutional amendment to constitutionally ban marriage for same-sex couples. He was also among those legislators during the July 2011 Minnesota government shutdown who declined their pay.
Committee assignments
House Committee on Capital Investment
House Committee on Education/Finance
House Committee on Taxes
2012 U.S. Senate election
In March 2012, Bills announced his candidacy for the U.S. Senate seat held by Amy Klobuchar. He was endorsed by GOP presidential contender Ron Paul, U.S. Senator Rand Paul and Minnesota House Speaker Kurt Zellers. At the state Republican convention in May 2012, Bills received the Senate endorsement on the second ballot. He won the Republican primary on August 14, 2012. Klobuchar defeated Bills in the general election on November 6, 2012. Bills carried only two counties while Klobuchar swept the rest of the state, winning with 65% of the vote.
