Background
Downey grew up in Edina, attending Morningside Elementary School, Southview Middle School, and East High School, graduating in 1979.
Downey grew up in Edina, attending Morningside Elementary School, Southview Middle School, and East High School, graduating in 1979.
He went on to the University of Wisconsin in Eau Claire, where he received his Bachelor of Business Administration in 1983 and later his M.I.S. Prior to his current consultant work, he was a partner with Virchow Krause, and also worked for Unisys and Epic Systems.
He is also a consultant for state and local governments on strategy, operations and technology. Downey was first elected to the in 2008, succeeding nine-term Republican Ron Erhardt, and was re-elected in 2010.
In 2012, after incumbent state senator Geoff Michel (Senate District 41) decided not to run for re-election to the Senate, Keith Downey decided not to seek re-election to the House seat (41B) and instead sought election to the State Senate for newly renumbered Senate District 49.
In the general election of November 2012, Downey was defeated by the DFL endorsed candidate Melisa Franzen. The race was the most expensive in state history.
Downey was elected the Chair of the Republican Party of Minnesota on April 6, 2013, succeeding Pat Shortridge.
A former member of the, he represented District 41A, which primarily included portions of the cities of Edina and Minnetonka in Hennepin County in the southwestern Twin Cities metropolitan area. He was a member of the House"s K-12 Education Policy and Oversight Committee and Taxes Committee, and also served on the Finance subcommittees for the Early Childhood Finance and Policy Division, on which he was the ranking minority party member, the Higher Education and Workforce Development Finance and Policy Division, and the State Government Finance Division.
