Francis Leer

    

The Honorable Francis Leer
official portrait, 2014
Majority Leader of the High Council
Incumbent
Assumed office January 7, 2022
Preceded by	April Wren
Minority Leader of the High Council
In office October 6, 2018 – January 2, 2022
Preceded by	Derrick Chamberlain
Succeeded by	April Wren
High Councilor from Dakota
Incumbent
Assumed office July 9, 2008 Serving with Josh Harvey and Michael Bratley
Preceded by	Gabriel Barker
Governor of Dakota
In office January 8, 2000 – January 10, 2008
Deputy	Peter Jordan
Preceded by	Desmond Finch
Succeeded by	Matthew Wallace
Personal details
Born	(1957-03-17) March 17, 1957 Augustus, Dakota, Superior
Political party	United Conservative
Spouse(s)	Michelle Leer (m. 1998)
Children	2
Education	University of Minneapolis
Profession	Banker, politician

Francis Joseph Leer (born March 17, 1957) is a Superian banker and politician having been serving as a High Councilor from Dakota since 2008 and has been Council Majority Leader since 2022. A member of the United Conservative Party, Leer previously served as a banker for the Bank of Dakota and served as Governor of Dakota from 2000 until 2008 succeeding Liberal Democrat Desmond Finch. From 2018 to 2022, Leer served as Minority Leader and was the chief opposition leader in the chamber until 2022.

Born in Augustus to a prominent German-descendant banking family, Leer is a native of the state and would attend the University of Minneapolis to study finance to follow in his family's tradition. He would run for office in 2000 due to emerging political ambitions and sought to use the governorship to build a name for himself for future political ambitions. As governor, he would emerge as a moderate conservative figure and would implement policies similar to those of Alexander Harper during his tenure as President of Superior. He would serve two terms and was elected in both 2000 and 2004 seeking to run for the High Council in 2008 and intentionally didn't run for re-election. During the 2008 Superian High Council elections, Leer would win the United Conservative nomination and would be elected to the High Council a year after the United Conservative victory in the 2007 Superian federal election.

As a High Councilor, Leer would sponsor many conservative legislative proposals and laws including the Traditional Marriage Act of 2004 when it was re-introduced in 2009 and the Self-Reliance Act of 2012. Following the election of Jennifer Granholm in 2015, he would oppose her legislative agenda in the High Council and supported Derrick Chamberlain during his tenure as Minority Leader. After Chamberlain resigned in 2018, Leer would be elected Minority Leader of the High Council. As of 2021, Leer is the highest ranking United Conservative in the High Council and is considered the third-highest ranking member of the United Conservative Party, under Party Leader Isaac Dillon and Party President Amy Lloyd.

Politically, Leer identifies as a traditional conservative and economic liberal. He is firmly opposed to abortion, and is considered the High Council's most pro-life member. He has supported and sponsored a number of anti-abortion and pro-life laws, and supports the defunding of Planned Parenthood and ending federal funding of abortion. Leer is also staunchly opposed to gay marriage, instead supporting same-sex civil unions despite opposing them before. Leer is against environmental regulations put onto Superior's oil and gas industries, citing their large portion in the Superian economy. He is also opposed to the nationalization of healthcare and the creation of a single-payer healthcare system. On foreign policy, Leer is against the normalization of relations with the United Commonwealth and other Landonist states and supports continued relations with Sierra. Leer is a opponent of the Conference of American States, but is against leaving the organization, supporting reforms and restrictions. However, he is a vocal critic of the organization's stance on environmental regulations.