Michelle Louise Helene Fischbach ( ; ; born November 3, 1965) is an American attorney and politician who is the U.S. representative from Minnesota's 7th congressional district. The district, which is very rural, is Minnesota's largest congressional district and includes most of the western area of the state. A Republican, Fischbach served as the 49th lieutenant governor of Minnesota under Governor Mark Dayton. Fischbach was a member of the Minnesota Senate from 1996 to 2018. During her tenure, she was the President of the Minnesota Senate from 2011 to 2013 and from 2017 to 2018. When Dayton appointed Tina Smith to the U.S. Senate after Al Franken’s resignation, Fischbach became the lieutenant governor of Minnesota under the Minnesota Constitution. She served as lieutenant governor from 2018 to 2019. While serving as the incumbent lieutenant governor of Minnesota, Fischbach was former Governor Tim Pawlenty's nominee for lieutenant governor in the Minnesota Republican Party primary during the 2018 Minnesota gubernatorial election. Pawlenty and Fischbach lost in a contentious primary election. In the 2020 U.S. House elections, Fischbach defeated 30-year DFLer incumbent Collin Peterson. As of March 2022, Fischbach is the most recent Republican to hold statewide office in Minnesota. Early life, education and career Fischbach grew up in Woodbury, Minnesota. After graduating from Woodbury High School, she attended the College of St. Benedict in St. Joseph from 1984 to 1986; she later transferred to St. Cloud State University, where she graduated with a B.A. in political science and economics in 1989. Fischbach earned her J.D. from William Mitchell School of Law in Saint Paul in 2011. She first got involved in politics as an intern to Rudy Boschwitz, the incumbent U.S. Senator from Minnesota. In 1994, Fischbach became the first woman elected to the Paynesville City Council, where she served until she was elected to the Minnesota Senate in 1996. Minnesota Senate Fischbach was elected to the Minnesota Senate in 1996 in a special election held after the resignation of DFL Senator Joe Bertram, who had recently pleaded guilty to shoplifting. Fischbach was reelected months later in the 1996 general election, and in 2000, 2002, 2006, 2010, 2012, and 2016. She served as an assistant minority leader from 2001 to 2002 and from 2007 to 2008, and as a deputy minority leader from 2009 to 2010. Fischbach also served as the chair of the Senate's higher education committee. In 2011, after an