Representative Athena Hollins Contact information

Athena Hollins is an American politician serving in the Minnesota House of Representatives since 2021. She is a member of the Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party (DFL), and represents District 66B, which includes parts of Saint Paul in Ramsey County, Minnesota. Since 2023, Hollins has served as majority whip for the House DFL caucus.

Born on October 18, 1983, in Hawaii, Hollins attended Reed College, graduating with a B.A., and the University of Saint Thomas, graduating with a J.D in 2011. After graduating from law school, Hollins practiced family law and estate planning. She served as president of the Payne-Phalen Community Council.

Hollins was elected to the Minnesota House of Representatives in 2020 and was reelected in 2022. She challenged nine-term DFL incumbent John Lesch for the DFL endorsement and lost, but defeated him in the primary election. Hollins serves as the majority whip for the House DFL caucus and vice chair of the Rules and Legislative Administration Committee. She sits on the Climate and Energy Finance and Policy and Public Safety Finance and Policy Committees, as well as the Property Tax Division of the Taxes Committee.

Hollins is a member of the House People of Color & Indigenous (POCI) Caucus, the Black Maternal Health Caucus, and the Queer Caucus. Hollins authored a bill to ban the use of conversion therapy for minors and vulnerable adults, which passed the House floor in 2021 and 2023. She also introduced legislation to ban the “gay panic defense” used to plead down murder charges against LGBTQ victims. Hollins sponsored successful legislation to eliminate the statute of limitations on reporting sexual assault.

In 2021, Hollins introduced legislation to ban the use of no-knock warrants in the state of Minnesota, however lawmakers ended up approving a less restrictive policy. After the police killing of Amir Locke, she introduced a bill to further limit no-knocks, which Governor Walz stated he would sign if it came to his desk. That proposal passed the House floor in 2022 as part of a larger public safety bill, but was opposed by Senate Republicans and chair of the Senate Public Safety Committee, Warren Limmer.