Scott Jensen (Minnesota politician)

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Scott Jensen
Minnesota State Senator Scott Jensen.jpg
Member of the Minnesota Senate
from the 47th district
In office
January 3, 2017 – January 5, 2021
Preceded byJulianne Ortman
Succeeded byJulia Coleman
Personal details
Born (1954-11-19) November 19, 1954 (age 67)
Sleepy Eye, Minnesota
Political partyRepublican Party of Minnesota
Spouse(s)Mary
Children3
Parent(s)Carl Jensen (father)
ResidenceLaketown Township
Alma materLuther Northwestern Theological Seminary
University of Minnesota
(BA, MD)
Occupationphysician

Scott M. Jensen (born November 19, 1954) is an American politician, physician, and former member of the Minnesota Senate. A member of the Republican Party of Minnesota, he represented District 47 in the western Twin Cities metropolitan area. During most of his tenure in the state senate, Jensen was profiled as a moderate Republican who worked across the aisle with members of the Democratic Party on several issues. He first received wide attention in 2017, when he jumped onto the stage to give then-Governor Mark Dayton medical attention after Dayton collapsed while giving a speech at the Minnesota State Capitol.[1]

Jensen is seeking the Republican nomination in the 2022 Minnesota gubernatorial election.

Early life, education, and career[]

Jensen was born on November 19, 1954, and graduated valedictorian from Sleepy Eye High School in 1973. He attended Luther Northwestern Theological Seminary from 1977 to 1978 and the University of Minnesota, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts in physiology in 1978 and a Doctor of Medicine in 1981. He was a Bush Fellow of leadership and policy studies at the University of Minnesota in 1999.[2]

Jensen was a member of the Waconia School Board from 1993 to 2002 and its chair from 1995 to 1996 and in 1999.[3] He was also a member of the Citizens Alliance Bank board, of which he was the audit committee chair.[4] Jensen is the founder and president of Catalyst Medical Clinic in Watertown, where he is a family physician. He was formerly a clinical associate professor at the University of Minnesota Medical School in the Family Practices department.[3]

Jensen was selected by The Minnesota Academy of Family Physicians as the 2016 Family Physician of the Year.[5]

Minnesota Senate[]

Jensen was elected to the Minnesota Senate in 2016.[6]

In July 2019, Jensen announced he would not seek reelection in 2020.[6]

In February 2020, Jensen put forward a bill to create a new commission to probe drug price increases.[7]

In a July 5, 2020 video that Jensen posted to Facebook, he stated that he was under investigation by the Minnesota Board of Medical Practice in relation to a April 7 television interview.[8]

COVID-19 response[]

Jensen received notoriety for his response to the COVID-19 pandemic. PolitiFact cited him as a major contributor to their "Lie of the Year 2020: Coronavirus downplay and denial".[9] The report states, "Fox News featured a guest who opened a new misinformation assault on hospitals. Dr. Scott Jensen, a Minnesota physician and Republican state senator, told Ingraham that, because hospitals were receiving more money for COVID-19 patients on Medicare—a result of a coronavirus stimulus bill—they were overcounting COVID-19 cases. He had no proof of fraud, but the cynical story took off. Trump used the false report on the campaign trail to continue to minimize the death toll."[9]

Jensen also said COVID-19 deaths were being inflated, when experts say the opposite was likely.[10] On April 8, 2020, Jensen appeared on "The Ingraham Angle" and said that the method of gathering statistics could be "misleading", adding, "The idea that we’re going to allow people to massage and sort of game the numbers is a real issue because we’re going to undermine the [public] trust."[10] According to a USA Today report, "Experts say that COVID-19 deaths are likely not being overinflated ... Instead, many experts say the nation is likely amid an undercount of the death toll due to the disease due to factors like false negatives on tests, a lack of testing and people who have died in their homes without receiving a positive test."[10]

On May 21, 2021, Jensen joined anti-vaccine activist Simone Gold and the right-wing political organization America's Frontline Doctors in suing the United States Department of Health and Human Services, attempting to prevent children from receiving life-saving COVID-19 vaccines.[11] The 80-page petition, filed in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Alabama, calls the vaccines "experimental injections" and says COVID-19 presents "zero risk" of death to children.[11] "We doctors are pro-vaccine, but this is not a vaccine. This is an experimental biological agent whose harms are well documented (although suppressed and censored) and growing rapidly, and we will not support using America's children as guinea pigs," Gold said.[11] The petition says Jensen believes "it would be reckless to subject anyone in that age group to the experimental COVID-19 vaccine" and that he believes recommending that children get vaccinated "would violate his oath as a doctor and place him in an untenable position".[11]

Personal life[]

Jensen and his wife, Mary, have three children and reside in Laketown Township.[2]

References[]

  1. ^ Bierschbach, Briana; Tribune, Stephen Montemayor Star. "Enigmatic doctor Scott Jensen charts path to GOP frontrunner status in Minnesota governor's race via Trump playbook". Star Tribune. Retrieved January 24, 2022.
  2. ^ a b "Jensen, Scott". Minnesota Legislative Reference Library. Retrieved December 15, 2016.
  3. ^ a b "Candidates file for state seats: DFL pits veterans against incumbent Republican rep, doctor". Sun Patriot. ECM Publishers. June 30, 2016. Retrieved December 15, 2016.
  4. ^ "Senate District 47: Q&A with Scott Jensen". Chanhassen Villager. Southwest News Media. September 29, 2016. Retrieved December 15, 2016.
  5. ^ https://mafp.org/news/284769/Watertown-Doctor-is-the-Recipient-of-the-2016-MN-Family-Physician-of-the-Year-Award.htm
  6. ^ a b Callaghan, Peter (July 26, 2019). "State Sen. Scott Jensen is not running again — and he has a lot to say about the Legislature: 'This is a really bizarre place'". MinnPost. Retrieved March 31, 2020.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  7. ^ Magan, Christopher (February 19, 2020). "Top idea for lowering drug prices may be too controversial to become law". Twin Cities. Retrieved March 31, 2020.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  8. ^ Jessie Van Berkel, "Sen. Scott Jensen says he has 'no regrets' about his COVID-19 comments", Star Tribune, July 7, 2020. https://www.startribune.com/sen-scott-jensen-says-complaints-about-covid-19-comments-may-be-political/571650782/
  9. ^ a b Baird, Caryn. "Lie of the Year: Coronavirus downplay and denial". PolitiFact. Retrieved March 17, 2021.
  10. ^ a b c Richardson, Ian (April 17, 2020). "Fact check: Is US coronavirus death toll inflated? Experts agree it's likely the opposite". USA Today. Retrieved March 17, 2021.
  11. ^ a b c d Fiore, Kristina (May 26, 2021). "Simone Gold's Group Sues to Stop COVID Shots for Kids". MedPage Today. Retrieved May 29, 2021.

External links[]

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