Early Life and Career
Hatch, a 1966 graduate of East High School (Duluth, Minnesota), went on to earn his Bachelor's Degree in political science (with honors) from the University of Minnesota Duluth in 1970, and a Juris Doctor degree from the University of Minnesota Law School in 1973. Hatch was a lawyer in private practice and became the chairman of the State DFL Party in 1980, before Governor Rudy Perpich appointed Hatch to his Cabinet as Commissioner of the state Department of Commerce, a position he served in from 1981 to 1989. Hatch ran in and lost gubernatorial primaries against Perpich, in 1990, and against John Marty, in 1994. In 1998 he was elected State Attorney General, a position to which he was reelected in 2002.
For a short time in 1966, Hatch served with the Merchant Marine, eventually returning to the University of Minnesota Duluth to finish his degree.
In 2005 Hatch helped negotiate discounted hospital fees for uninsured patients in the state. As of June 2005, 58 out of 140 Minnesota hospitals (which take in about 75% of the patients in the state) have agreed to the plan. Uninsured families that earn less than $125,000 per year will now pay reduced rates—in many cases the best rates available if they had been insured. Signatories so far include Fairview Health Services and the Mayo Clinic. Hennepin County Medical Center and HealthPartners are two of the largest hospital systems that have not yet agreed, but they are expected to do so in the near future.
Hatch and his wife, Patti, an elementary school teacher, are the parents of three daughters.
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