Q4730245

Biography

The Miss Minnesota USA competition is the pageant that selects the representative for the state of Minnesota in the Miss USA pageant. It was directed by Future Productions based in Savage, Minnesota since its inception in 1995 to 2024, which also directs the state pageants for Colorado, Iowa, North Dakota, South Dakota, Wisconsin and Wyoming. 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. In 2016, Halima Aden became the first contestant to compete wearing a burkini, and the first to wear a hijab the entire time. In 2017, Mikayla Holmgren was the first woman with Down syndrome to compete in a statewide Miss USA pageant. The current titleholder is Rachel Betterley of Prior Lake was crowned Miss Minnesota USA on May 30, 2026, at The Franklin Center in Des Moines. She will represent Minnesota at Miss USA 2026.

== Gallery of titleholders ==

== Results summary ==

=== Placements === Miss USA: Barbara Peterson (1976) 2nd runners-up: Deborah Cossette (1977), Meridith Gould (2017) 3rd runner-up: Lanore Van Buren (2002) 4th runner-up: Kari Lee Johnson (1985) Top 6: Angelique de Maison (1995) Top 10/12: Jodell Stirmlinger (1952), Carla Reid Peterson (1980), Jolene Stavrakis (1994), Madeline Helget (2022) Top 15/19/20: Mary Ann Papke (1953), Dawn Joyce (1954), Kaylee Unverzagt (2008), Erica Nego (2009), Haley O'Brien (2014), Cat Stanley (2019), Rachel Betterley (2026) Minnesota holds a record of 17 placements at Miss USA.

=== Awards === Miss Congeniality: Elizabeth Jane Carroll (1965), Janet Tveita (1990), Dottie Cannon (2006) Miss Photogenic: Paige Swenson (2000), Sarah Cahill (2003)

== Winners == Color key

1 Age at the time of the Miss USA pageant 2 Contestant resigned title before the Miss USA pageant

== References ==