His family moved to Circle Pines, Minnesota before he started school and he spent the remainder of his childhood residing there.

He is a member of the American Legion Honor Guard,[2][3] the NRA, the Mora Area Chamber of Commerce and the Knights of Columbus.

As a journalist, he was responsible for putting out a daily newspaper, running the radio and television stations, anchoring the nightly news, conducting tours while in port and working on the ship's yearbook.

[4] Crawford ran on a platform of improving the Minnesota business climate, controlling spending and keeping taxes lower.

Bills Co-Authored: Crawford was one of seven legislators featured in an August 2011 story in the Minneapolis Star Tribune for taking pay during Minnesota's government shutdown that summer.

The paper and other media outlets had reported in June that Crawford was one of seventeen Republican House members who would not take their salary in the event of a state shutdown.