Education
From the small city of Murdock, Frederickson graduated from Saint Cloud State University in Saint Cloud, earning his Bachelor of Surgery in Education.
From the small city of Murdock, Frederickson graduated from Saint Cloud State University in Saint Cloud, earning his Bachelor of Surgery in Education.
A fourth-generation farmer, he earned a reputation as a strong advocate for farmers and agricultural issues, education and tax reform. First elected to the Senate in 1986 in the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party’s “firestorm” that swept through the region, giving Democrats unprecedented control of southwestern Minnesota for the next several election cycles, Frederickson served two terms. He was re-elected in 1990.
He represented the old District 20, which included all or portions of Chippewa, Lac qui Parle, Redwood, Swift and Yellow Medicine counties.
He chaired the Agriculture and Rural Development Subcommittee on Agriculture Resources during the 1991 and 1992 sessions. After Frederickson"s service in the legislature concluded, he was elected president of the Minnesota Farmers Union, serving from 1991 to 2002.
In 2002, he was elected president of the National Farmers Union, a national federation of State Farmers Union organizations in the United States and the second largest general farm organization in the country, serving until 2006. He worked as an Agricultural Outreach Director for United States. Senator Amy Klobuchar from 2007 to 2010.
On December 21, 2010, Minnesota Governor-elect Mark Dayton announced that Frederickson would be the state"s new commissioner of agriculture, succeeding long-time commissioner and former state representative Gene Hugoson, who held the position since 1995.
He took over the department on January 3, 2011.
Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party, Democratic Party.
While in the legislature, Frederickson was a member of the Senate Agriculture and Rural Development, Education, Local and Urban Government, Taxes and Tax Laws and Governmental Operations committees, and of various sub-committees relevant to each area.