Education
Bemidji State University.
Bemidji State University.
He is the first known blind person elected to Minnesota Legislature. Westrom has served on several legislative commissions, including the Rural Health Care Advisory Task Force, the Secretary of State"s voting equipment task force and the Minnesota Legislative Audit Commission. In 2002, President George West. Bush appointed him to serve a four-year term on a federal advisory panel called the Ticket to Work.
The panel advised Congress and the White House on return-to-work programs for people with disabilities.
Minnesota House of Representatives
He was first elected in 1996 and was re-elected every two years until his run for the Minnesota Senate. Prior to the 2002 legislative redistricting, he represented the old District 13A. Minnesota Senate
Westrom was elected to the Minnesota Senate in 2012.
Run for United States Congress
In December 2013, less than a year into his Senate term, Westrom announced that he would challenge incumbent Collin Peterson in Minnesota"s 7th congressional district in 2014. He kicked off his campaign with events in Elbow Lake and Moorhead.
He raised over $84,000 in the first month of his campaign.
Republican Party of Minnesota, Republican Party.
A member of the Republican Party of Minnesota, he represents District 12, which includes all or portions of Big Stone, Douglas, Grant, Pope, Stearns, Stevens, Traverse and Wilkin counties. Westrom is a former member of the Minnesota House of Representatives representing District 11A.