In 2000, Bachmann defeated a longtime moderate incumbent for a state Senate seat in Minnesota. In 2006, Bachmann entered the race to represent her suburban Minneapolis congressional district. She won 52% of the vote, becoming the first Republican woman from Minnesota elected to the House of Representatives. She easily won reelection in 2008 and 2010.

Bachmann began her tenure as Dean of the Robertson School of Government at Regent University on January 1, 2021.

Bachmann was born in Waterloo, Iowa. She received a B.A. in Political Science and English from Winona State University in Minnesota in 1978. In 1986, Bachmann received a Juris Doctor degree from Oral Roberts University. She was a member of the ORU law school’s final graduating class and was part of a group of faculty, staff, and students who moved the ORU law school library to Regent University. Two years later, she completed a Master of Law in taxation at the College of William & Mary. She worked for four years as a lawyer for the Internal Revenue Service’s Office of Chief Counsel in St. Paul, Minnesota.

Bachmann has been married to Marcus Bachmann for 43 years, and the couple has five children. They also worked with a private foster care agency to house 23 children in their home during the 1990s. The Bachmanns’ children were homeschooled and also attended private Christian schools. Bachmann’s political career stemmed from her interest in education reform.