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Things To Know About House Speaker-Elect Daudt

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Five things to know about Rep. Kurt Daudt, who was picked Friday by the newly crowned GOP majority to be House speaker:

EARLY DAYS IN POLITICS

Daudt, 41, got his political start on the Stanford Township board and was later an Isanti County commissioner. His first exposure to statewide politics was as an aide to the 2000 re-election campaign of then U.S. Sen. Rod Grams. Daudt helped manage a GOP gubernatorial campaign in 2010, the same year he won a state House seat.

SALES IN THE BLOOD?

Daudt's new role will put even more pressure on him to shepherd a caucus with a tendency to splinter, but he's had some experience making sales. Daudt used to sell cars, and remains a car buff with a pair of vintage Ford Broncos he's fixing up.

DOWN ON THE FARM

Farmers are a diminishing share of the Minnesota Legislature, but Daudt is likely to connect with those who remain. He lives on a 62-acre hobby farm east of Zimmerman, which his grandparents homesteaded in the 1930s. The farm has seven beef cattle and 22 acres of tillable land. His brother also has a house on the property.

PERSONAL FILE

A bachelor, Daudt is fond of talking about his two black Labrador retrievers, Lucy and Daisy. And he's the second "Kurt" in a row to be Republican House speaker after Rep. Kurt Zellers in 2011-12. Both attended the University of North Dakota.

(© Copyright 2014 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

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