ST. PAUL, Minn. — A transgender woman from Minnesota has announced her bid for a seat in the U.S. House, representing Minnesota’s 2nd Congressional District.
Paula Overby
Paula Overby, 59, believes she will be the first openly transgender person from Minnesota to run for Congress.
Overby, a quality assurance analyst from Eagan, has never been a candidate or held appointed office.
She will face Thomas Craft, another political newcomer, and Mike Obermueller, who lost a 2012 bid to unseat U.S. Rep. John Kline, R-Lakeville. Kline has held the seat for more than a decade.
Overby acknowledged her gender identity may be a polarizing issue, but she doesn’t want it to define her candidacy.
Overby tells the St. Paul Pioneer Press that she’ll focus on reforming what she believes is a broken campaign finance system.
