Ramsey County History – Spring 2011: “For the Good of the Order: The Ad Man Becomes the ‘Senator from Ramsey'”

For the Good of the Order: The Ad Man Becomes the “Senator from Ramsey”
Author: John Watson Milton

Former State Senator John Milton provides an account of the early political career of the late Nicholas David (Nick) Coleman, the Minnesota Senate majority leader. Coleman (1925–1981) enjoyed a productive career as a member of the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party (DFL), starting first with his grassroots campaign in 1962 that included phone banks and lawn signs, which helped defeat another longtime Irish-Catholic senator. Coleman took office for the first time in 1963, representing former Senate District 45, which included St. Paul and Ramsey County. Coleman’s academic pursuits were, characteristic of that time, interrupted by US Navy service in World War II, graduated from Cretin High School and St. Thomas College (now University). Reelected in 1966, 1970, 1972, and 1976, he was the first Democrat in 114 years to be elected majority leader in the Senate, a position he held from 1973 to 1981. This article features a recipe for the time-honored political fundraising meal: BOOYA! Milton is also the author of the 2012 biography, For the Good of the Order: Nick Coleman and the High Tide of Liberal Politics in Minnesota, 1971–1981, published by the Ramsey County Historical Society.
PDF of Milton article