Doug Wardlow

Doug Wardlow
Member of the Minnesota House of Representatives
from the 38B district
In office
January 4, 2011 – January 7, 2013
Preceded by Mike Obermueller
Succeeded by Redistricted
Personal details
Born 1978 (age 39–40)
Political party Republican
Spouse(s) Jenny
Children 3
Education Georgetown University (BA, JD)

Douglas G. "Doug" Wardlow (born 1978) is an American attorney, counsel for the conservative Christian legal advocacy group Alliance Defending Freedom, and former Minnesota State Representative who represented District 38B. The district was formerly represented by Wardlow's father, and includes portions of the city of Eagan in Dakota County, in the southeastern Twin Cities metropolitan area. He is a current Republican candidate for Attorney General of Minnesota.

Early life and education

Wardlow graduated from Eagan High School in Eagan, Minnesota, where he was one of the four valedictorians of his class. He attended Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., studied Mandarin Chinese at Beijing University in Beijing, China, and graduated magna cum laude from Georgetown University with a B.A. in Political Theory with a minor in Mandarin Chinese.

Wardlow earned his J.D., cum laude from Georgetown Law Center. After earning his law degree, he served as a Judicial Law Clerk for Associate Justice G. Barry Anderson of the Minnesota Supreme Court. During law school, he also spent a summer clerking at the law firm of Lee and Li in Taipei, Taiwan. He also returned to Beijing University, completing English-language coursework on Chinese law.[1][2]

Wardlaw worked as an litigation attorney for Minneapolis law firm of Parker Rosen, where he specialized in eminent domain, employment law and business law.[3][1]

Alliance Defending Freedom

Wardlow currently serves as legal counsel[4] for the Alliance Defending Freedom, a conservative Christian legal non-profit in Scottsdale, Arizona.[5] Alliance Defending Freedom has represented clients and won at the United States Supreme Court in nine cases in the last seven years, the three most recent in 2017 and 2018.[6]

The group has been labeled an anti-gay hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center.[7] Doug Wardlow's work with Alliance Defending Freedom has included suing and threatening to sue school districts for allowing transgender students to use restrooms in accordance with their gender identity, citing discredited researchers to argue that allowing transgender people to use restroom facilities in accordance with their identity would pose a danger to other students and violates privacy rights.[7][8] Wardlow has argued that transgender students using bathrooms reflecting their gender threatens the "safety and privacy" of other students.[9] He successfully argued that a Detroit funeral home could fire a transgender employee because of the owner's religious opposition to transgender people.[10]

Political career

Wardlow was first elected to the Minnesota House of Representatives in 2010. He served on the Civil Law, Judiciary Policy and Finance, and Taxes committees, and on the Taxes Subcommittee for the Property and Local Tax Division.[11] He narrowly lost his bid for reelection in 2012 to Democrat Laurie Halverson, in the newly created District 51B.[12]

Views

Wardlow opposes gay marriage and the Obergefell v. Hodges decision[13] and called it a "tyrannical impulse."[14]

Wardlow has said that, if elected, he will "fire 42 Democratic attorneys right off the bat" from the Attorney General's Office, leading to criticism that he would politicize the office and make hiring decisions based on political loyalty rather than merit.[15]

Personal life and family history

Wardlow and his family have long been active in government and politics. While attending Georgetown University, he volunteered at the offices of U.S. Representative John Kline from Minnesota and U.S. Representative Gil Gutknecht from Minnesota, and also worked as a volunteer legal research clerk for U.S. Senator Charles Grassley from Iowa. His father, Lynn, also served as a Minnesota State Representative for the same district from 2003-2009.[1][2][16]

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Wardlow, Douglas "Doug" - Legislator Record - Minnesota Legislators Past & Present". www.leg.state.mn.us.
  2. 1 2 "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2011-07-15. Retrieved 2011-01-25.
  3. ↑ "Parker / Rosen". www.parkerrosen.com. Retrieved 2017-12-10.
  4. ↑ "Douglas Wardlow". www.adflegal.org. Retrieved 2017-12-07.
  5. ↑ "Douglas G. Wardlow - a Scottsdale, Arizona (AZ) Business & Commercial Law Lawyer". pview.findlaw.com. Retrieved 2017-12-10.
  6. ↑ http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/alliance_defending_freedom_gains_influence_with_supreme_court_wins
  7. 1 2 Alliance Defending Freedom Through The Years. Southern Poverty Law Center, 2017
  8. ↑ How The Hate Group Alliance Defending Freedom Is Infiltrating Public Schools.
  9. ↑ http://www.adfmedia.org/News/PRDetail/10345
  10. ↑ Federal court upholds firing of transgender funeral director. Detroit Free Press, 18 August 2016
  11. ↑ "Wardlow, Douglas "Doug" - Legislator Record - Minnesota Legislators Past & Present". www.house.leg.state.mn.us.
  12. ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2012-08-18. Retrieved 2013-05-03.
  13. ↑ Supreme Court disavows truth about marriage, pits faith against law. Fox News. Doug Wardlow, June 26, 2015.
  14. ↑ Marriage equality is a ‘tyrannical impulse,’ says Alliance Defending Freedom lawyer. Colorado Independent. Kyle Harris, June 26, 2015
  15. ↑ Wardlow says he'd fire Democrats in Minnesota AG's office. Minneapolis Star-Tribune, 12 October 2018
  16. ↑ "Wardlow, Lynn - Legislator Record - Minnesota Legislators Past & Present". www.leg.state.mn.us.
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