Joe McDonald (politician)

McDonald was born in Watertown, Minnesota, to parents of Irish descent. His father, K. J. McDonald, served as a Minnesota state representative from 1977 to 1991, and as Watertown mayor.^[1][3][4]

McDonald graduated from Hennepin Technical College with an A.A. in photography. He earned his master's degree in photography in 2003 and his Craftsman's degree in photography in 2008. He is a photographer and business owner.^[1]

McDonald served on the Delano city council from 2000 to 2006 and as mayor from 2007 until his election to the state legislature.^[1]

McDonald was elected to the Minnesota House of Representatives in 2010 and has been reelected every two years since. He first ran after three-term incumbent Tom Emmer announced he would not run for reelection in order to run for governor of Minnesota.^[1][5] In 2022, Joe Crawford, a member of the right-wing group Action 4 Liberty, challenged McDonald in the Republican primary.^[6] McDonald was kicked out of an Action 4 Liberty event, and called the Wright County sheriff about the incident. He criticized the group's methods and defended his conservative voting record.^[6] He called the group "frauds" and called Erik Mortensen, a fellow lawmaker associated with the group, "a petulant child".^[6] No charges were ultimately filed.^[7]

McDonald serves as the minority lead for the Labor and Industry Finance and Policy Committee and sits on the Higher Education Finance and Policy Committee.^[1]

McDonald opposed legislation that would ban noncompete clauses for many workers, and a bill that would allow a lower minimum wage for tipped employees.^[8][9] He authored a bill to fully repeal the estate tax.^[10]

McDonald has supported reforms to the Metropolitan Council, a regional transit planning agency, saying, "we'll do everything we can to make sure the Met Council doesn't put its tentacles into our county".^[11] He has voted to repeal gun permit laws in Minnesota.^[12] He has said he was open to restoring voting rights to felons in 2020, but advocated for a standalone bill vote.^[13]

McDonald opposed legislation to allow liquor stores to open on Sundays, saying, "stay home with your family. Value church and family times".^[14] He supported a bill to allow bars to stay open till 4 a.m. during the 2018 Super Bowl LII week, but later expressed reservations about the proposal.^[15][16] McDonald opposed raising taxes to pay for a new Minnesota Vikings stadium and later voted against the final bill.^[17][18]