State of the City Update

Roger Reinert took office as the 40th Mayor of the City of Duluth in January, 2024. He brought to office relevant experience from the private, public, and military sectors.

Reinert is a licensed attorney, and prior to taking office provided legal and consulting work focused on local units of government and local elected leaders. He also spent 18 years teaching undergraduate political science and legal courses, and graduate public policy classes. He most recently taught at the College of St. Scholastica where he was adjunct faculty for both the Stender School of Business and Department of Political Science at the College of St. Scholastica. In addition to his Juris Doctorate, he also holds Bachelors and Masters in Science degrees.

Prior to being elected Mayor, Roger also served six years in the Minnesota Senate representing District 7, which covered nearly all of Duluth. Before that he served two years in the Minnesota House of Representatives for the House district representing the western half of the city. He also served five years on the Duluth City Council, and was twice elected City Council President.

Reinert is also an actively serving Navy Reservists and holds the rank of Commander. He is currently assigned to the Pentagon as the Executive Officer for the Chief of Naval Information’s reserve unit. In 2019, he completed a one-year combat deployment to Afghanistan in support of Operation Resolute Support, and was deployed again in 2020 to Italy where he led a COVID Crisis Action Team.

Upon his return home, Reinert was asked to serve as the Interim Executive Director at the Duluth Entertainment and Convention Center 2020-2021. In the role, he provided strategic direction, management, and fiscal oversight to an organization with a $12M budget, and 500 employees. His leadership ensured the 800,000 sq. ft. regional asset survived the COVID pandemic.

Roger makes his home in Duluth's Observation Hill neighborhood. He is a sailor, avid runner, and licensed pilot.