About Dave Pinto

Dave represents the Highland Park, Mac-Groveland, and Shepard-Davern neighborhoods of St. Paul in the Minnesota House. Outside of the Legislature, he serves our community as a prosecutor. He, his wife Abby, and their two sons have lived in the neighborhood for nearly 20 years. He is a member of AFSCME Council 5.

Education

Dave grew up in Falcon Heights and graduated from Roseville Area High School and Harvard University. He earned graduate degrees in law and management from the University of Virginia, where he received the Raven Award, the highest award granted by the University’s honor society.

Recognition

Dave's work, as both a prosecutor and as a legislator, has been recognized with awards from the Minnesota Coalition for Battered Women ("Inspire" award), Start Early Funders Coalition ("Early Childhood Honors"), Children's Hospitals Minnesota ("Children's Health Hero"), Council of State Governments ("Henry Toll Fellow"), Ramsey County Bar Association ("Excellence in Diversity"), Minnesota Chiefs of Police Association, and League of Minnesota Cities, among others.

Public Service

In his early career, Dave worked in the office of Congressman Bruce Vento and at the Clinton White House. He served as a law clerk to the Honorable Diana E. Murphy of the U.S. Court of Appeals, the first woman to be appointed a federal district judge in Minnesota.

Outside of the Legislature, Dave now serves as a prosecutor in the Ramsey County Attorney’s Office, specializing in crimes of gender violence, including domestic assault and sex trafficking. For several years, he directed statewide training and protocol development for Safe Harbor, Minnesota's system for addressing the sexual exploitation of young people.