Rest first moved to Minnesota in 1970. Following a career as a high school Latin and English teacher, she pivoted to work in tax policy and as a CPA after being laid off from her teaching job in 1979.[4]
Minnesota Legislature
Rest was elected to the House of Representatives in 1984.[4][5] Rest requested Governor Arne Carlson call a special session of the legislature in 1997 to secure funding for a new Minnesota Twins stadium. The session lasted 23 days but no agreement was made.[5][6]
Rest was first elected to the Senate in 2000, and was re-elected in 2002, 2006, 2010, 2012, 2016, 2020 and 2022.[7] She served as an assistant majority leader from 2003 to 2007 and Senate President Pro Tempore 2013–2017 and 2023–present .[5]
Before being elected to the Senate, Rest represented District 46A in the Minnesota House of Representatives for 16 years, being first elected in 1984, and re-elected in 1986, 1988, 1990, 1992, 1994, 1996 and 1998. She was an assistant majority leader of the House from 1989 to 1991. She chaired the House Tax Committee from 1993 to 1997, and the House Local Government and Metropolitan Affairs Committee from 1997 to 1999.[5] She chaired the Senate State and Local Government Operations and Oversight Committee from 2007 to 2011.[8]
For the 2023 - 2026 Senate term, Rest is serving as Senate President Pro Tempore and on the following committees and commissions: Taxes, (Chair), Rules (Vice Chair), Commerce, Elections, Tax Expenditure Review Commission (Chair, 2023-2025); Legislative Audit Commission 2023-2027) Capitol Preservation Commission (2023–present); Great Lakes Commission; Great Lakes / St. Lawrence Legislative Caucus (Executive
Committee, Past President, founding member).[9]
Her special legislative concerns include tax policy, commerce, transit policy, election laws and housing policy.[5]
On June 16, 2025, it was revealed that Rest was directly targeted by Vance Boelter, the man who killed Minnesota House Democratic Leader and former House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband and shot and seriously injured state senator John Hoffman and his wife.[10] Police spotted Boelter parked near the Rest home in New Hope, Minnesota on June 14, 2025, the same evening as the other shootings. He left the area after encountering police officers.[10]
Personal life
Rest has been active on numerous government and community boards through the years. She is a member of the National Caucus of Environmental Legislators, and NCSL's Executive Committee's Task Force on State and Local Taxation. She is a past president of Streamline Sales Tax Governing Board and serves on the Executive Committee. Rest was a member of the Minnesota Statehood Sesquicentennial Commission (2006–2008) and served on the Minnesota Capitol Area Architectural Planning Board and the Capitol Preservation Commission. Rest is a Minnesota delegate to the Great Lakes Commission and was a founding member of the Great Lakes Legislative Caucus, which she also chaired.[3]
Rest is a noted Minnesota Twins fan and has supported the team since she was a child growing up in Virginia when the Twins were the Washington Senators.[4]
