The Story of the Longest Serving St. Cloud Mayor, Dave Kleis

St. Cloud's longest serving Mayor Dave Kleis' time as Mayor wraps up Monday January 13.  I sat down with Mayor Kleis a few years ago for WJON's My Life series to talk about the path that led him to where he is now.

Dave grew up in Litchfield as the 2nd youngest of 9 children in the family.  Kleis was one of 4 boys and 5 girls.  He says his parents were farmers before he was born before moving to town. Dave says he's a combination of German and Irish.  Kleis says his family was poor by all standards but he never thought that at the time.  He indicates his dad drove a milk truck before getting a job with the city of Litchfield.  Dave says his dad also mowed lawn as a side job.  In high school Kleis participated in football and track.

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Kleis comes from a military family and upon graduation from Litchfield High School he joined the Air Force.  He recalls training in Biloxi, Mississippi before taking his first assignment training in Okinawa, Japan.  After 1 1/2 years in Okinawa he applied for special duty and was accepted so he served a year and a half at the Pentagon.  Dave recalls really getting the political bug in him while working in the Nation's Capital.

While in the Air Force Kleis attended Community College.  After serving 3 years in the Air Force he decided to go to college at St. Cloud State University.  Kleis continued to be in the military reserve for another 6 years.  As a senior at St. Cloud State Dave ran for Mayor of St. Cloud in 1989.  He recalls finishing last.  He was later asked to be the Finance Director for Congressman Arlan Standeland.

While working on the Standeland campaign, Dave was working part time as a driving instructor.  When Standeland didn't win Kleis decided to start his own driving academy and called it "Central Minnesota Driving Academy" in 1991.  He still owns it today.

After the driving academy gained success Kleis showed more interest in politics.  He calls former Lieutenant Governor Joanne Benson his mentor.  She was a State Senator in St. Cloud when they met.  Kleis says Benson was chosen as Arne Carlson's running mate.  Carlson won elected which opened the State Senator seat in St. Cloud.  Benson encouraged Kleis to run for the open seat and he won a special election in 1994.  He served 4 terms in the State Senate.

Kleis left the Senate and ran for Mayor of St. Cloud in 2005.  He won election that year and has served as St. Cloud Mayor until 2025.

Learn more about his life below.