District 1 ~ Bio

Commissioner Paul Koering is a lifelong resident of Crow Wing County. He was born in Brainerd Minnesota to Lou and Bernard Koering. Paul grew up in Saint Mathias Township about 10 miles south of Brainerd. He decided early on that he wanted to be a dairy farmer. He started out with six cows and eventually worked his way on up to 60 cows and ran a successful dairy farm for 15 years. In the early 1990’s neighbor Marvin Falk invited Paul to a Farm Bureau meeting, which sparked his interest in politics. Paul went on to be the County Farm Bureau Vice President and was encouraged to attend the state convention. There Paul was elected to the Minnesota Farm Bureau board of directors and served two terms. One of his duties on the Board of Directors was to be a citizen lobbyist on behalf of Farm Bureau members. Paul traveled to Washington DC to lobby Minnesota’s congressional delegation as it related to the Farm Bureau and farming issues.

With that political spark, Paul decided to run for the Minnesota Senate in 1996. Paul milked cows morning and night while campaigning and door knocking in the neighborhood of 15,000 residents. In that election, Paul received 47% of the vote against a longtime incumbent. For the next 4 years, Paul worked tirelessly to get to every parade, church bazaar and many other celebrations to get to know his neighbors and constituents. In 2000, he ran again for the Minnesota Senate, this time with 49½% of the vote against the same longtime incumbent. In 2002, Paul ran for a third time and won the election by 138 votes. He went on to serve two four-year terms in the Minnesota senate. He served as the lead minority member on the bonding committee.

After serving in the Minnesota Senate, Paul went on to purchase two liquor stores in Crow Wing County. One in Brainerd and one in Baxter. He ran those successfully before selling them both.

In 2012, Paul thought that he was done with politics. With the encouragement of many neighbors, he decided to throw his hat in the ring for district one county commissioner. Paul was successful in the primary and went on to win the general election. He was re-elected unopposed in 2016. Paul was successful in 2020 with a third election win, with no official opponent but a last minute write in candidate. Paul won the election with 90% of the vote. Paul was re-elected unopposed in 2024 and is currently serving his fourth term as county commissioner.