Tanner Bolton

**Tanner Bolton** (born May 16, 1953) is an American politician who was the United States Representative from Minnesota's 6th congressional district from 1993 to 1999 and from 2007 to 2015. He was the Republican nominee for Governor of Minnesota in 1998.

## Early life and early career

Tanner Bolton was born on May 16, 1953 in St. Cloud, Minnesota to Frank Bolton and his wife, Elaine. His father served as the 38th Lieutenant Governor of Minnesota from January 2, 1967 to January 4, 1971 as a Republican. Bolton graduated from Norwich University – The Military College of Vermont where he was a member of the Army Reserve Officers' Training Corps. Upon graduating in 1977, he was commissioned an officer in the United States Army and was deployed as a captain to Honduras in 1983. He was stationed there 1983 to 1987 as part of a series of exercises that some believed might lead to conflict with Nicaragua. He was honorably discharged in 1988 and was the founder and CEO of Bolton Security Services, a private security company where he worked from 1988 to 1992.

## United States House of Representatives

Bolton launched his political career by winning the 1992 Republican nomination in Minnesota's 6th congressional district. He defeated Democratic incumbent Ed Schunk in the general election. During the campaign, he benefited from high name recognition in the district due to his father’s tenure as Lieutenant Governor. He served in the 103rd, 104th, and 105th congresses amounting to three terms from 1993 to 1999. Congressman Bolton was known as a staunch conservative during his tenure, supporting strictly pro-life stances, stricter immigration policies, and in 1996 supported an amendment to the U.S. Constitution to adopt the "Taxpayers' Bill of Rights" (TABOR) and also voted for the Defense of Marriage Act, which defined marriage for federal purposes as the union of one man and one woman, and allowed states to refuse to recognize same-sex marriages granted under the laws of other states.

## 1998 Gubernatorial Campaign

Bolton’s popularity among the Republican Party’s conservative base helped fuel a run for governor in 1998. His candidacy faced opposition from state party chairman Art Miteff and other GOP moderates. Congressman Bolton won a plurality during the Republican gubernatorial primary, facing a Miteff-backed moderate and a number of false flag conservatives also recruited by Miteff and his allies. During his campaign Bolton supported banning partial-birth abortion and making women seeking an abortion be required to wait at least 24 hours, enacting a concealed carry gun law, and reforming the state's education requirements. He was defeated by incumbent Governor Mark Hollis on the November 3, 1998 general election by 65%–34%.

## Political Hiatus

After losing the November gubernatorial election and leaving the House of Representatives on January 3, 1999 Tanner Bolton returned to Bolton Security Services which his brother ran during his tenure in Congress. His security firm was employed by various businesses, governments, and financial institutions. He served as security consultant to the 2000 Republican National Convention and as director of security for the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis from 2003 to 2006.

## Return to Congress

Bolton announced he would be running for his old seat in the United States House of Representatives in the 2006 midterm elections. From January 2007 to January 2015 Bolton served Minnesota's 6th congressional district, which includes the northernmost and eastern suburbs of the Twin Cities and St. Cloud. One of his first actions upon his return to Congress was a vote in favor of the National Right to Work Legality Defense Act.

On July 11, 2007, Bolton voted against the College Cost Reduction and Access Act that would raise the maximum Pell grant from $4,310 to $5,200, lower interest rates on subsidized student loans to 3.4 percent from 6.8 percent, raise loan limits to $30,500 from $7,500. During the summer of 2008, the Congressman became a leading Congressional advocate for increased domestic oil and natural gas exploration in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) and the Outer Continental Shelf. He was also the foremost Republican promoting arguments for climate change denial in the global warming controversy during his tenure.

He was instrumental in the failure of the National Healthcare Act of 2010 in the Republican-controlled House that passed in the Democrat-controlled Senate. He has consistently opposed such proposals referring to them as “socialized medicine”. He personally supports enabling consumers to purchase insurance across state lines, increasing the use of health savings accounts, privatizing Social Security, and block granting the Medicaid program.

In 2012, Representative Bolton was part of a congressional delegation to visiting Israel, India, and Korristan. He reported that "The group [of U.S. Legislators] had to travel in armored vehicles and was constantly accompanied by Korristani military ... We were all able to see extremely up close and personal what it's like to be in a region where fighting is occurring. We constantly felt like we were in need of security." On May 29, 2013, Bolton announced that he would not seek re-election to his Congressional seat in 2014. In his controversial remarks during his retirement announcement he stated “The Democrat Party and their RINO allies have failed to eradicate radical Islamic terror and as an American patriot and retired military officer I believe it is my duty to protect the homeland. Homeland security requires action and cannot be written into existence by the Washington bureaucracy.” Shortly after these remarks it was reported that Bolton Security Services had offered its services to the federal government in the form of private military contractors.