Ann H. Rest, born on April 24, 1942, is an American politician and the President pro tempore of the Minnesota Senate. She is a member of the Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party (DFL) and represents District 43, which includes portions of the western suburbs of Hennepin County in the Twin Cities metro area.
Rest attended Rich Township High School in Park Forest, Illinois, graduating in 1960. She then went on to Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, where she received her B.A. in Latin and Greek. She attended the University of Chicago on a Woodrow Wilson Fellowship and earned a M.A. in Latin and Greek. She later received an M.A. in Teaching from Harvard University, a Masters in Business Taxation from the University of Minnesota, and a Masters of Public Administration from Harvard’s John F. Kennedy School of Government through a Bush Fellowship. She is a retired Certified Public Accountant.
Rest was first elected to the Senate in 2000, and was re-elected in 2002, 2006, 2010, 2012, 2016, 2020 and 2022. She served as an assistant majority leader from 2003 to 2007 and Senate President Pro Tempore 2013–2017 and 2023–present. 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. She chaired the Senate State and Local Government Operations and Oversight Committee from 2007 to 2011.
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).
