Matt Entenza
Matt Entenza is a Minnesota lawyer and politician who served six terms in the State House of Representatives and ran for state attorney general. In 2006, he stepped down as the Minnesota State House Democratic Leader.
Entenza studied at Augustana College then transferred to Macalester College. After graduating, he studied law at Oxford University and taught high school. Returning home, he received his J.D. with honors from the University of Minnesota Law School.
After graduating, Entenza clerked for U.S. District Judge Harry McLaughlin. He then joined the Minnesota Attorney General’s Office, assigned to the Charities Division. Entenza also concurrently taught law at St. Mary's University. Entenza later joined the Hennepin County Attorney's office, principally prosecuting white-collar crime.
In 1994, Entenza was elected to the Minnesota State House of Representatives from St. Paul, District 64A. He was chief author of the “Do Not Call” law, a consumer privacy initiative.
During his tenure, he served on the K-12 Finance, Education Policy, and Commerce Committees. In 2004, Entenza’s Caucus won 14 legislative seats, resulting in a 68-66 State House divide. He was a 2006 Democratic candidate for Attorney General.
On July 18, 2006, Entenza withdrew his candicacy from the state Attorney General race under a cloud of scandal. Critics, including many in his own party, had raised concerns of a conflict of interest due to Entenza's wife Lois Quam's high ranking executive position at UnitedHealth Group, an insurance company that had been investigated by the Attorney General's office under Mike Hatch. They also have charged that because Quam has received tens of millions of dollars in stock options from United Health Entenza could not properly protect consumers from excessive health-care costs.[1] Entenza was also accused of hiring a Chicago based opposition-research firm to look into Hatch's private affairs during his tenure as Attorney General, and then lying about the scope and cost of the investigation. When initially contacted about the investigation, Entenza claimed it was "pure fantasy" that he had anything to do with it.[2]. Entenza's campaign committee was fined $28,000 by the Minnesota Campaign Finance and Disclosure Board on August 15, 2006, for exceeding the legal amount for contributions. The committee has indicated it intends to appeal the ruling.[3]
Those defending Entenza have argued that the research firm went beyond Entenza's requests of their own accord to try to impress him without Entenza's knowledge. However, despite Entenza's promises, the research firm has refused to confirm or deny that. Also it has been pointed out that Quam is not a member of any of United Health's committees responsible for employee compensation, and could therefore be in no way responsible for any of the alleged wrongdoings. Entenza himself has pointed out that the Attorney General's Office has a strict conflict of interest policy that would check back any real conflict of interest he might have. However, critics responded that the millions in stock options collected by Entenza's wife would have prevented him from being impartial in any investigations into health-care executive compensation. Finally, Entenza has said that the allegations are simply partisan political attacks.[citation needed]
Entenza and his wife have been married for 21 years. They have three boys, Ben (17), Will (15), and Steve (15).
External links
- Summary of events leading to Entenza's withdrawal from attorney general race
- Official member's website from the Minnesota House of Representatives
- Matt Entenza for Attorney General Minnesotans for Matt campaign website
- Profile of Matt Entenza
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