Chris Gerlach (born November 17, 1964) is a Minnesota politician and former member of the Minnesota Senate representing District 37, which included portions of the cities of Apple Valley, Burnsville and Rosemount in Dakota County, which is located in the southeastern Twin Cities metropolitan area. Public service A Republican, Gerlach was first elected to the Senate in a July 2004 special election after Senator David Knutson was appointed a Dakota County District Court judge by Governor Tim Pawlenty. He was re-elected in 2006 and 2010. He served as an assistant minority leader from 2005 to 2006 and 2008 to 2010. Prior to being elected to the Senate, Gerlach was a member of the Minnesota House of Representatives, being first elected in 1998 in the old House District 36A, and re-elected in 2000 and 2002. After the 2002 redistricting, the area was known as House District 37A. Gerlach served as assistant majority leader and Majority Whip in the Senate from January through December 2011. He chairs the Senate Commerce and Consumer Protection Committee, and is also a member of the Senate's Capital Investment, Environment and Natural Resources, and Rules and Administration committees. His special legislative concerns included tax relief, less government spending, education reform, and public safety. Gerlach supports "right-to-work" legislation in Minnesota. In March 2012, he used his bulk-mail business to send mail to several fellow senators' constituents to pressure them to support the measure. Democrats in the Minnesota Senate considered filing an ethics complaint against Gerlach. Senator Tom Bakk said Gerlach "[seemed] to be benefiting by the action of the caucus in a way the general public is not." Ortman called Gerlach's decision to use his business to mail against other Senators "shocking" and "very troublesome and should be troubling to all Minnesotans." Days after news broke that he used his bulk-mail business to mail against other senators, Gerlach announced that he would not seek re-election to the Minnesota Senate. On May 19, 2012, Gerlach announced he would be running for the Dakota County Board of Commissioners in 2012. Gerlach's involvement in the termination of a former employee of the Minnesota Senate, Michael Brodkorb, has come under scrutiny due to a pending lawsuit by Brodkorb. Gerlach and an aide in his Senate office, Aaron Cocking, were listed in initial paperwork regarding Brodkorb's planned lawsuit over his termination from the Minnesota Senate. On May 25, 2012, the Minnesota Senate released