Kristi Pursell

Pursell was born in Rochester, Minnesota, and graduated from St. Olaf College with a bachelor's degree in English and environmental studies. She also received a graduate certificate in environmental education from the University of Minnesota Duluth.^[1]

Pursell served five years as the executive director of Clean River Partners, an environmental nonprofit organization based in Northfield. She has also been a leader in grassroots organizations, including the Land Stewardship Project, ISAIAH MN, and TakeAction MN.^[3] She worked as executive director of the Cannon River Watershed Partnership.^[4]

Pursell was first elected to the Minnesota House of Representatives in 2022. She ran for an open seat created by legislative redistricting and the retirement of one-term DFL incumbent Todd Lippert.^[1]

Pursell serves as vice-chair of the Agriculture Finance and Policy Committee and sits on the Elections Finance and Policy, Environment and Natural Resources Finance and Policy, and Education Finance Committees.^[1]

Pursell authored a bill that would restore a citizens' oversight board to the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency that would be able to approve or deny agency policy. The previous board was eliminated in an end-of-session deal in 2015.^[5] According to Pursell, she introduced the bill, which ran into opposition from rural legislators, because "I've heard from many Minnesotans who feel like the MPCA treats industry as its clients rather than centering people and our natural environment".^[6]

In 2023, Pursell authored bipartisan legislation that would fund rural broadband infrastructure across the state. In final negotiations, DFL leadership announced $100 million in rural broadband spending, which Pursell called "the largest commitment the state has made to date for broadband".^[7]