Martin John "Marty" Seifert (born April 23, 1972) is a former Republican Minority Leader and former member of the Minnesota House of Representatives.

[4] At the Republican Party of Minnesota's off-year state convention held on October 3, 2009, at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Seifert was the first-place winner of a non-binding straw poll, receiving 37% of the vote.

[5] On February 2, 2010, Seifert won a statewide straw poll of Republican voters attending their precinct caucuses.

The gubernatorial race ultimately resulted in Democratic-Farmer-Labor nominee Mark Dayton defeating Emmer by less than 9,000 votes.

[11] He eventually became the executive director of the Avera Marshall Foundation, raising millions of dollars to construct and equip a new cancer facility for southwest Minnesota.

[12] In September 2010, he was admitted to a hospital after experiencing pain and shortness of breath, which was revealed to be the result of a fluid buildup in his left lung.

During a Minnesota Public Radio interview on November 8, 2012, Seifert hinted that he might once again seek statewide office in the 2014 election, though he was not completely sold on the idea and said that it was merely "possible.

"[16] Later that same week, Seifert told another news source that he was considering another statewide run after seeing Minnesota Republicans handily defeated in the 2012 election, though he reiterated that it was only a possibility, citing family concerns and his life in the private sector.

[19] He joins a crowded GOP field of several candidates, two of whom have vowed to run in the primary regardless of who receives the endorsement at the state convention.

In a straw poll taken of all caucus goers, Seifert topped the list with 29%, followed closely by state senator Dave Thompson with 26%.

[26] After losing the endorsement, Seifert took his primary campaign to many areas of the state, including flying to 16 Minnesota cities in a media blitz immediately after the convention.

He is a former government and history teacher at Marshall Senior High School, and admissions counselor at Southwest Minnesota State University.

While keeping his residency in Marshall, he commutes during legislative session advocating chiefly for rural cities, persons with mild disabilities and aggregate truck haulers.