Born and raised in his home district of Apple Valley, Chris Gerlach began public service early as a Civil Air Patrol Cadet, earning top leadership awards. He attended the College of St. Thomas, earning a B.A. in political science and a commission in the U.S. Air Force through the ROTC program. Before graduation, he served an internship with U.S. Senator Rudy Boschwitz. Later, as an active duty second lieutenant in the Air Force, he served as a Minuteman II crew member in our Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) force at Ellsworth Air Force Base in Rapid City, SD, a key Strategic Air Command base. While on active duty, he earned a Master of Business Administration degree from the University of South Dakota. He was promoted to the rank of Captain and worked as a crew commander deactivating the weapon systems at the end of the Cold War.

Returning  to civilian life and Apple Valley renewed his interest in volunteer work and politics, eventually leading him to run for the Statehouse in 1998. With the appointment of Senator Dave Knutson as District Court Judge in 2004, he ran for and was elected to represent not only Apple Valley and Burnsville, but also Rosemount. He has been re-elected to the seat twice, in 2006 and 2010. Today, Gerlach owns and operates his own direct marketing and mail-processing business located in Eagan. Long active in the local community, he is a member of the Apple Valley American Legion Post 1776, Civil Air Patrol, and three local Chambers of Commerce. In addition, he has served on the Dakota County Human Services Advisory Committee and as a board member of the Apple Valley Optimist Club—a service organization dedicated to fostering a wide range of youth programs.

In the Legislature, Senator Gerlach has served on many committees, commissions, task forces and working groups covering a wide range of public policy issues. He chief authored the Minnesota Environmental Partnership legislative initiative creating a citizen water quality-monitoring program to improve the quality of our lakes and streams, repealed the crime of ticket scalping, and closed loopholes in travel membership scams and the life insurance viatical settlements industry. He also led a bi-partisan group that produced a wide-ranging package of election reforms including administration procedures, absentee ballot reforms, an earlier primary election and changes to campaign finance and reporting rules.

He has served as assistant majority leader for the new Republican Senate Majority and was appointed to the Legislative Coordinating Commission’s Subcommittee on Redistricting to prepare the electoral boundaries based on the 2010 U.S. Census.  Senator Chris Gerlach is the chairman of the Commerce & Consumer Protection Committee.

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