Miss Minnesota USA

For the state pageant affiliated with Miss America, see Miss Minnesota.

Miss Minnesota USA
Formation1952; 72 years ago (1952)
TypeBeauty pageant
HeadquartersSavage
Location
Membership
Miss USA
Official language
English
Key people
Denise Wallace
Craig Heitkamp
WebsiteOfficial website

The Miss Minnesota USA competition is the pageant that selects the representative for the state of Minnesota in the Miss USA pageant. It is directed by Future Productions based in Savage, Minnesota since its inception in 1995, which also directs the state pageants for Colorado, Iowa, North Dakota, South Dakota, Wisconsin and Wyoming.[1]

Barbara Elaine Peterson was the first Miss Minnesota USA to be crowned Miss USA (in 1976), and was also the first Miss USA to not place in the Miss Universe pageant. Her sister, Polly Peterson Bowles, was Miss Minnesota USA 1981.[2]

In 2016, Halima Aden became the first contestant to compete wearing a burkini, and the first to wear a hijab the entire time.[3] In 2017, Mikayla Holmgren was the first woman with Down syndrome to compete in a statewide Miss USA pageant.[4]

The current titleholder is Muna Ali of Saint Paul was crowned on June 23, 2024, at Ames Center in Burnsville. She will represent Minnesota at Miss USA 2024.

  1. ^ "Future Productions, LLC State Directors". Retrieved 8 February 2017.
  2. ^ Furst, Randy (1988-02-11). "3rd Miss Minnesota-USA has 'nothing to hide'". Star-Tribune Newspaper of the Twin Cities Mpls.-St. Paul. p. 01A.
  3. ^ "Halima Aden Breaks Ground as First Somali-American to Compete for Miss Minnesota USA". 17 November 2016.
  4. ^ Divine, Mary (November 27, 2017). "Standing ovations for first woman with Down syndrome to compete in Miss Minnesota USA". Twin Cities Pioneer Press.