Mark Schneider Leaves Political Legacy
A well-known and well-loved leader of the North Dakota Democratic-NPL party died on election day, November 8, leaving behind a family political legacy, according to members of the party who knew him well.
Pat Hart, state Dem-NPL chair, said Mark Schneider, besides his own distinguished career, was a brother, husband and father of a political family that has had a wide-ranging impact on North Dakota.
Schneider, who was born in 1948 and lived most of his life in the Fargo area, founded the Schneider Law Firm with his late brother, John. The firm is now in the hands of his son Mac Schneider. He was a senior law firm partner until his retirement in 2015.
Schneider served as chair of the state party and spent several years as a regional attorney for the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights for the eight southern U.S. states. He was chair of the North Dakota Governor’s Council on Human Resources, chair of the statewide Protection and Advocacy Project, and vice president of the Governor’s Council on the Status of Women.
Senator Kathy Hogan (D-Fargo), likened the Schneider family’s part in North Dakota’s politics to the famous Democratic Kennedy family. Hogan was re-elected Tuesday to the Senate in District 21 along with Schneider’s wife, Mary Schneider, who has served in the House of Representatives since 2014.
Schneider’s brother John served 10 years in the North Dakota House of Representatives when he was appointed U.S. Attorney for North Dakota, a post he held until 2000. His son Mac served in the North Dakota Senate from 2009 until 2016. His nomination by President Joe Biden to serve as the U. S. Attorney for North Dakota is awaiting Senate confirmation.
In 2020, Schneider published a historical novel about an Irish family, “She Has the Right of It,” with characters and a genealogy resembling his own family story.
Schneider’s daughter Libby Schneider, who was
