Michael O. Freeman Politician
Michael O. "Mike" Freeman (born May 7, 1948) is an attorney and politician from the state of Minnesota. He is currently the county attorney for Hennepin County, the most populous county in the state, of which the county seat is Minneapolis. He is the son of Orville Freeman, who was a former Minnesota governor and Secretary of Agriculture under presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson.A member of the Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party, Freeman was elected to the Minnesota Senate in 1982, representing the old District 40, which included the city of Richfield and a portion of Bloomington in Hennepin County. He was re-elected in 1986, serving as Majority Whip during his second term (1987 – 1991). He was also vice chair of the Finance Committee from 1987 to 1991, and of the Economic Development and Commerce Committee from 1983 to 1986. He also chaired the Economic Development Subcommittee from 1983 to 1986.Freeman was elected Hennepin County Attorney in 1990, serving until 1999. He again ran for and was elected county attorney by a wide margin in 2006, after incumbent Amy Klobuchar opted to run for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Mark Dayton.Freeman ran twice for governor of Minnesota. In 1994 he lost the DFL Party endorsement to John Marty. Marty was later defeated in the general election by incumbent Governor Arne Carlson. In 1998 he won the DFL Party endorsement but lost the primary election to Skip Humphrey, who went on to lose the general election to Jesse Ventura.Freeman received a B.A. from Rutgers University in 1970 and a J.D. from the University of Minnesota Law School in 1974.
