Drew Roach

{{short description|American politician}} {{Use mdy dates|date=April 2025}} {{Infobox officeholder |name = Drew Roach |image = Drew Roach by Gage Skidmore.jpg |caption = Roach at the 2024 Hazlitt Summit hosted by Young Americans for Liberty Foundation |birth_date = {{birth date and age|1985|01|29}} |state_house = Minnesota |district = 58B |term_start = January 7, 2025 |term_end = |preceded = Pat Garofalo |succeeded = |succeeding = |party = Republican |alma_mater = }}

'''Drew Roach''' (born January 28, 1985)<ref name="a">{{Cite web|url=https://www.lrl.mn.gov/legdb/fulldetail?ID=15642|title=Roach, Drew|work=Minnesota Legislative Reference Library|access-date=November 28, 2024}}</ref> is an American politician. A member of the Republican Party, he represents district 58B in the Minnesota House of Representatives. His district is in east central Minnesota, mostly within Dakota County, and includes Farmington, Hampton, and Dennison.<ref>{{cite web |title=District 58B Map |url=https://pollfinder.sos.mn.gov/assets/maps/legislative/58B.pdf |website=Office of the Minnesota Secretary of State |access-date=1 May 2026}}</ref>

== Life and career == Roach attended Minnesota School of Business, but did not graduate.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.hometownsource.com/sun_thisweek/free/roach-english-vie-for-open-seat-in-house-district-58b/article_1ff4a766-8fda-11ef-a3d5-cfc0f9224224.html|title=Roach, English vie for open seat in House District 58B|work=Sun ThisWeek|date=October 24, 2024|access-date=November 28, 2024}}</ref>

In November 2024, Roach defeated DFL nominee Ian English in the general election for district 58B with 59% of the vote.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.usatoday.com/elections/results/2024-11-05/race/24647/minnesota|title=2024 Minnesota General Elections Results - State House District 58B|work=USA Today|date=November 5, 2024|access-date=November 28, 2024}}</ref> He succeeded Pat Garofalo. Roach took office on January 7, 2025.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://ballotpedia.org/Drew_Roach|title=Drew Roach|work=Ballotpedia|access-date=November 28, 2024}}</ref>

In January 2025, after Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon adjourned a session of the House for lack of quorum, Roach told Simon that his presiding over the House was "a sham" and that he "should not have the gavel". Minnesota law requires the secretary of state to convene the House when there is no speaker.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/cite/3.05|title=2024 Minnesota Statutes|work=Minnesota Legislature|access-date=January 29, 2025}}</ref> A recent Supreme Court decision held that the House did not have a quorum and so could not elect a speaker.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://minnesotareformer.com/2025/01/27/minnesota-house-operations-stuck-in-the-mud/|title=Minnesota House operations stuck in the mud |work=Minnesota Reformer|date=January 27, 2025|access-date=January 25, 2025}}</ref>

On April 25, 2026, the Minnesota House of Representatives voted to pass Bill HF1606, a piece of legislation aimed at restricting AI tools from creating non-consensual nude images, notably child sexual abuse material (CSAM), thereby allowing legal action to be taken against creators and stopping the means of production. The bill passed by a vote of 132-1, with only Roach voting against it.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Editor |first=Tom Akaolisa |date=2026-04-25 |title=MINNEAPOLIMEDIA NEWS {{!}} Minnesota House Passes Bill Targeting AI “Nudification” Technology; Senate Action Pending {{!}} MinneapoliMedia |url=https://minneapolimedia.town.news/g/coon-rapids-mn/n/374859/minneapolimedia-news-minnesota-house-passes-bill-targeting-ai |access-date=2026-04-29 |website=minneapolimedia.town.news |language=en}}</ref> Roach later wrote on X, "I voted against HF1606 the bill aimed at banning access to 'nudification' AI tools that create non-consensual deepfake nudes, because it is an ineffective, messaging bill that does little to actually stop determined bad actors."<ref>{{Cite web |title=Drew Roach (@DrewRoachMN) on X |url=https://x.com/DrewRoachMN |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20260310065032/https://x.com/DrewRoachMN |archive-date=2026-03-10 |access-date=2026-04-29 |website=X (formerly Twitter) |language=en}}</ref>

==Electoral history== {{Election box begin no change |title = 2024 Minnesota House of Representatives election, District 58B<ref name="Nov24Results">{{cite web |title=2024 Results for All State Representative Races |url=https://electionresults.sos.mn.gov/Results/Index?ersElectionId=170&scenario=StateRepresentative |website=Minnesota Secretary of State |access-date=18 November 2024}}</ref> }} {{Election box winning candidate with party link no change | party = Republican Party (United States) | candidate = Drew Roach | votes = 14,886 | percentage = 59.84 }} {{Election box candidate with party link no change | party = Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party | candidate = Ian English | votes = 9,962 | percentage = 40.05 }} {{Election box write-in with party link no change | votes = 29 | percentage = 0.12 }} {{Election box total no change | votes = 24,877 | percentage = 100.00 }} {{Election box hold with party link no change | winner = Republican Party (United States) }} {{Election box end}}

== References == {{reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Roach, Drew}} Category:1985 births Category:Living people Category:Place of birth missing (living people) Category:Republican Party members of the Minnesota House of Representatives Category:21st-century members of the Minnesota Legislature