Karla Bigham


Karla Bigham is an American politician and member of the Minnesota Senate, representing District 54. She is also a former Washington County Commissioner and former member of the Minnesota House of Representatives. She is a member of the Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party.

Early life, education, and career

Bigham graduated from Park High School in Cottage Grove in 1997. She then went on to Winona State University in Winona, earning a B.S. in paralegal with a sociology and political science minor. She was a member of Delta Phi Epsilon Sorority. She has worked as a union organizer and is currently a paralegal in the Property Crimes Division of the Hennepin County Attorney's Office in Minneapolis. She was a member of the Cottage Grove City Council from 2005 to 2007 and also served as chair of the Cottage Grove Public Safety, Health and Welfare Commission. She has worked as a public affairs coordinator for Northern Tier Energy.

Minnesota House of Representatives

Bigham was elected to the Minnesota House of Representatives in 2006, where she represented District 57A, which included portions of Dakota and Washington counties in the southeastern Twin Cities metropolitan area. She was re-elected in 2008. Bigham did not seek re-election to a third term in 2010.
During her tenure, Bigham served as vice chair of the House Public Safety Policy and Oversight Committee. She also served on the House Environment Policy and Oversight Committee and the Finance subcommittees for the Public Safety Finance Division and the State Government Finance Division.

Minnesota Senate

After Dan Schoen resigned from the Minnesota Senate following allegations of sexual harassment, Bigham announced her intention to run in the special election for the seat. She faced former Republican State Representative Denny McNamara and Libertarian candidate Emily Mellingen. Bigham won the special election.
Senator Bigham currently serves on the following committees:
Karla Bigham is married to John Stechmann and they reside in Cottage Grove, Minnesota.