Barb Yarusso

Barb Yarusso (born 1956) is a Minnesota politician and former member of the Minnesota House of Representatives. A member of the Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party, she represented District 42A, which included portions of Ramsey County, Minnesota in the north-central Twin Cities metropolitan area.

Barb Yarusso
Member of the Minnesota House of Representatives from the 42A district
In office January 8, 2013 – January 3, 2017
Preceded by	redrawn district
Succeeded by	Randy Jessup
Personal details
Born	1956 (age 68–69) Duluth, Minnesota
Political party	Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party
Spouse	Dave
Children	3
Alma mater	University of Minnesota (B.Ch.E.) University of Wisconsin–Madison (Ph.D.)
Occupation	adjunct assistant professor

Early life, education, and career

Yarusso grew up primarily in Columbia Heights, Minnesota, and graduated from Columbia Heights High School. She earned a Bachelor of Chemical Engineering from the University of Minnesota and Ph.D. in the same field from University of Wisconsin–Madison.^[1] After college, she worked in the lab as an engineer for General Mills and as an industrial trainer and self-employed engineering consultant for HB Fuller, 3M, and Ecolab, as well as teaching at the University of St. Thomas in Saint Paul, Hill-Murray School, the University of Minnesota, and as a freelance tutor.^[2]

Minnesota House of Representatives

Yarusso was first elected to the Minnesota House of Representatives in 2012 to an open seat created by post-census redistricting. She lost re-election to Republican Randy Jessup in 2016.

Electoral history

Minnesota House of Representatives 42A district election, 2012^[3]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Democratic (DFL)	Barb Yarusso	12,122	53.30	N/A
	Republican	Russ Bertsch	10,591	46.56	N/A