Mark Announces Duluth Sen. Yvonne Prettner Solon as Running Mate!

Dayton Announces Duluth Senator Yvonne Prettner Solon for Lieutenant Governor

DFL Candidate for Governor Mark Dayton announced today that his Running Mate for Lieutenant Governor is Duluth State Senator Yvonne Prettner Solon.  In announcing her selection, Dayton said, “I am very proud to introduce the woman I believe will be Minnesota’s next Lieutenant Governor, Senator Yvonne Prettner Solon.  I am deeply grateful that she is willing to leave the Minnesota Senate, where she has been such an outstanding leader and superb public servant for her constituents in Duluth, to gain an even more important leadership position on behalf of all the people of Minnesota.

Dayton continued, “Yvonne is the first and only person I asked to be my Running Mate.  She fits perfectly my priorities for that important Constitutional Office.  I want a Lieutenant Governor who will be a strong partner with me in leading our state toward a better future.  Senator Prettner Solon brings her extensive experience in both state and local government.  Her very thoughtful, sensitive, and visionary leadership and public service are further informed by her life experiences, which have forged a woman I deeply respect and admire.

“I look forward to our creating together a ‘Senior Citizens Service Center’ within the Office of the Lieutenant Governor, which will provide Minnesota’s seniors with one toll-free number they can call with any problems they are having with state government.  As Lieutenant Governor, Yvonne will also play a key role in working with the Minnesota Legislature to pass our Administration’s legislative initiatives.”

Senator Prettner Solon said, “I am honored to have been asked by Mark Dayton to be his Running Mate.  I have always admired him for his incredible integrity.  I know that he is not running because he needs to be Governor, but because he cares deeply for the people of Minnesota and he knows what needs to be done to put our state back on track.  One need only spend a short time with him to understand how genuine he is and what deep sincerity motivates him.  Besides his previous executive experience as Commissioner of Economic Development under the Perpich Administration and as the State Auditor in the 1990s, what better credentials could a state want from its governor than his selfless wish to improve the economic environment and quality of life for all Minnesotans.”

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Mark’s Statement Introducing Duluth Senator Yvonne Prettner Solon as Running Mate!

I am very proud to introduce the woman I believe will be Minnesota’s next Lieutenant Governor: Senator Yvonne Prettner Solon.  I am deeply grateful that she is willing to leave the Minnesota Senate, where she has been such an outstanding leader and superb public servant for her constituents in Duluth to gain an even more important leadership position on behalf of all the people of Minnesota.

I have known and admired Senator Prettner Solon, since she was President of the Duluth City Council.  I will always remember, with the highest esteem, her giving up her campaign for Mayor of Duluth to care for her husband, my long and very good friend, Senator Sam Solon, during the last days of his life.  I was very proud to support her election to his Senate seat.

In the Minnesota Senate, Senator Prettner Solon has championed legislation to reduce the costs of prescription drugs and health care programs in Minnesota.  She has been the Chief Senate Author of the Children’s Health Security Act, which would provide universal coverage for all Minnesota children.  She also introduced the Pharmaceutical Pricing Criteria Reporting Act and the Prescription Drug Bulk Purchasing Program aimed at lowering the cost of prescription drugs for consumers and state programs.

As Chair of the Senate’s Energy, Utilities, Technology, and Communications Committee, Senator Prettner Solon has been a leader in passing progressive energy policies, including the Next Generation Energy Act, which established nation-setting greenhouse gas emissions reduction goals for Minnesota, and the Sustainable Buildings 2030 proposal, which requires new state-bonded buildings to be carbon neutral, through energy efficiency and conservation, by the year 2030.

Yvonne is the first and only person I asked to run with me in this election.  She fits perfectly my priorities: someone who is superbly well-qualified in her own right to be Governor, if despite my nightly prayers, that would become necessary.  More optimistically, I want a Lieutenant Governor who will be a strong partner with me in leading our state toward a better future.  Senator Prettner Solon brings her extensive experience in both state and local government.  Her very thoughtful, sensitive, and visionary leadership and public service are further informed by her life experiences, which have forged a woman I deeply respect and admire.

I look forward to our creating together a “Senior Citizens Service Center” within the Office of the Lieutenant Governor, which will provide Minnesota’s seniors with one toll-free number they can call with any problems they are having with state government.  As Lieutenant Governor, Yvonne will also play a key role in working with the Minnesota Legislature to pass our Administration’s legislative initiatives.

I am very proud to introduce to you my choice to be the next Lieutenant Governor of Minnesota:  Senator Yvonne Prettner Solon.

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Senator Yvonne Prettner Solon’s Biography

Yvonne Prettner Solon’s political life began in 1988 with her election to the Duluth City Council where she served three four-year terms.  She was the Council’s Vice President four times, and was elected as the Council President in 1992 and again in 1996.  She served as Deputy Mayor from 1992 to 2000.  She chaired the Council Planning and Business Development committee and was a member of the Inter-Governmental Relations committee and the Parks, Library and Authorities Committee.  In 2002, she ran for the State Senate seat which was vacated by her late husband Senator Sam Solon and was re-elected again in 2002.  From 2003 through 2006, she served as Vice Chair of the Senate Health and Human Services Budget Division and of the Higher Education Budget Division.  She also served on the State and Local Government Operations Committee, the Agriculture, Veterans and Gaming Committee, the Legislative Audit Commission, the Iron Range Resources and Rehabilitation Board and the Duluth Graduate Medical Education Council.

She was re-elected in 2006 and currently serves as Chair of the Energy, Utilities, Technology and Communications Committee.  Additionally, she serves as Co-Chair of the bi-cameral Legislative Energy Commission.  She was re-appointed to the Health and Human Services Budget Division, as well as three standing committees:  Capital Investment; Health, Housing & Family Security; and, Commerce & Consumer Protection.  She continues to serve on the Iron Range Resources Board, Duluth Graduate Medical Education Council, and has also been appointed to the Great Lakes Commission and the Rural Health Advisory Council.

In the Senate, Senator Prettner Solon quickly became a leading health care policy advocate and has championed legislation to curb the costs of prescription drugs and health care programs in Minnesota.  She has been the chief senate author of the Children’s Health Security Act which would provide universal coverage for all Minnesota children.  She also introduced the Pharmaceutical Pricing Criteria Reporting Act and the Prescription Drug Bulk Purchasing Program aimed at lowering the cost of prescription drugs for consumers and state programs.  She has also taken an active role in passing thoughtful, progressive energy policies.  During the 2007 legislative session, she was the chief author of the Next Generation Energy Act, which established nation-setting greenhouse gas emissions reduction goals for Minnesota.  During the 2008 legislative session she passed several important energy initiatives, including the Sustainable Buildings 2030 proposal which requires new state-bonded buildings to be carbon neutral, through energy efficiency and conservation, by the year 2030.

Senator Prettner Solon is a clinical psychologist who represents Duluth in the Minnesota State Senate.  She attended the University of Minnesota – Duluth and earned a B.A. degree in Psychology and Social Development in 1979 and a Masters degree in Psychology from the University of Minnesota in 1981.  While completing her Master’s program, she worked as a private consultant doing evaluations for, among others, the Fond du Lac Indian Reservation, the National Alliance for Business, the U.S. Department of Labor, Duluth Public Schools and UMD.  She spent the next four years as the Director of the Marty Mann Halfway House for Women and then was a senior psychologist at the Range Mental Health Center in Virginia, MN before finding her career home at St. Luke’s Hospital in Duluth in 1985.  In 1997, she was named Clinical Director of the Compass North Behavioral Health Clinic at St. Luke’s.  In the interim between legislative sessions, she continues to practice as a psychologist at Saint Luke’s Hillside Mental Health Center.

She has two children and a grandchild and enjoys spending time with them as well as reading, traveling, snorkeling, walking, and golfing.