Anton Julius "A.J." RockneRockne, Anton Julius "A.J.", Minnesota Legislative Reference Library, Accessed November 28, 2010. (December 19, 1868 or 1869 – May 2, 1950) was a Minnesota Republican politician, and the longest-serving state senator in the history of Minnesota.

Background

Rockne was born in Harmony, Minnesota, to Norwegian immigrant parents. Rockne graduated from Decorah Institute, in Decorah, Iowa. Rockne completed a JD at University of Minnesota Law School in 1894. He was admitted to the Bar on June 7, 1894, and practiced as an attorney.A Voice of Protest: Norwegians in American Politics, 1890–1917 (Jon M. Wefald. Northfield, Norwegian-American Historical Association, 1971)

He was married to Susie Albertson on December 10, 1899, and had three children. Anton J. Rockne was a director and 1909 charter member of the Norwegian fraternal organization, Vosselag.Avisen, v. 13, no. 1, May 2005

Career He was elected to the Minnesota House of Representatives in 1902 and elevated to Speaker of the Minnesota House of Representatives before election in 1910 to the Minnesota Senate, the latter position earning him the distinction during a 36 years tenure, the longest serving of any senator in state history. Rockne was chairman of the Senate Finance Committee from 1915 to 1947, with a conservative fiscal approach to state spending. As 'Watchdog of the Treasury', he was often in opposition to efforts of Governor Floyd B. Olson elected in 1931, to pass social programs, including during the Great Depression, the pair regularly traded insults and criticisms. Rockne would lose much of his control over the committee and the senate when an Olson-backed relief bill passed.

His combined 44 years of state legislative service tied him with Carl M. Iverson for the longest tenure of legislative service in state until passed by Lyndon Carlson on January 3, 2017.

References

Other sources

Curtiss-Wedge, Franklyn History of Goodhue County, Minnesota (Chicago: H.C. Cooper Jr. & Co. 1910)

External links Anton Julius Rockne in MNopedia, the Minnesota Encyclopedia