Larry Herke was confirmed February 9, 2023, by the Minnesota Senate as Commissioner of the Minnesota Department of Veterans Affairs (MDVA). Herke has led the agency as Commissioner since Governor Walz appointed him in January 2019.

Walz announced the reappointment of Herke in November 2022. Last month, the Senate State and Local Government and Veterans committee unanimously recommended Herke for confirmation.

"Larry Herke is a proven leader and tireless public servant who remains committed to honoring the Veterans who answered the call to serve," said Governor Walz. "As a 24-year Veteran of the National Guard, I am proud to have another Veteran continue to lead the Department of Veterans Affairs as we fight for the housing, mental health support, and services our nation’s heroes deserve.”

“Our Veterans – our warriors – deserve the best care our state can provide. Larry Herke is a dedicated public servant who understands this better than anyone else,” said Lieutenant Governor Peggy Flanagan. “I’m grateful Larry will continue leading our state’s work to ensure Minnesota is the best state in the country for Veterans and their families to get the benefits they have earned.”

“I am honored to continue serving Minnesota’s 300,000 Veterans as MDVA Commissioner,” Herke said. “I am dedicated to ensuring that our Veterans and their families receive the benefits they have earned and services and support they deserve.”

During Herke’s first four years as MDVA Commissioner, he championed dramatic growth of facilities across the state and an expansion of services to address Veterans’ current issues. MDVA accomplishments under his leadership include:

• Completed design and secured federal and state funding for three new State Veterans Homes currently under construction in Bemidji, Montevideo and Preston. The Homes are all scheduled to open this summer.
• Completed design and secured federal and state funding for a new State Veterans Cemetery currently under construction in Redwood County. The cemetery will be dedicated in late summer.
• Placed more than 1,200 homeless Veterans in safe, secure and permanent housing. This effort included developing landlord incentives and leveraging a low-barrier, supportive housing grant to reduce the number of chronic homeless Veterans on the Minnesota Homeless Veterans Registry.
• This work resulted in four Continuums of Care (CoC) around the state declaring Veteran homelessness to be at “functional zero” in their communities. Only the Hennepin and Ramsey CoCs remain. The “Every Veteran Deserves a Home” plan provides the blueprint for Minnesota to become the fourth state in the nation to end Veteran homelessness.
• Joined the Governor’s Challenge, a federal Veteran suicide prevention program sponsored by SAMSHA and the Federal VA, and created a plan to eliminate Veteran suicide in Minnesota.
• Developed three COVID-19 Veterans Grant programs which provided $6.2 million in direct financial support to families of Veterans who lost income due to the pandemic. The COVID-19 Veteran Grant programs were developed in 31 days to include developing grant provisions, passage by the legislature, training of staff/County Veteran Service Officers (CVSOs) and modification of the existing grants software to accept applications from Veterans or CVSOs.
• Developed the first-ever MDVA Sustainability Plan to reduce costs and negative impacts on the environment.
• Obtained funding for the Post-9/11 Veterans Service Bonus which provides Minnesota Veterans with a war bonus as the state has done for every conflict since WWI.
• Reopened the Minnesota Veteran Home - Minneapolis bridge over Minnehaha Creek which had been closed due to disrepair for seven years.

Before joining MDVA, Herke was the first Director of Sustainability for the State of Minnesota. He is a Veteran himself, having served 30 years in the Army and Army National Guard, retiring as a Colonel in July 2016. A native of Mankato, Herke received both his bachelor’s degree in Accounting and master’s degree in Public Administration from Minnesota State University - Mankato.

Herke is a member of several Veteran Service Organizations including the American Legion, Veterans of Foreign Wars, Disabled American Veterans, AMVETS and Jewish War Veterans. He also serves on the Minnesota Military Museum Board as the Vice President of Facilities.