Donald O. Wright

{{Short description|American politician}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=September 2011}}

{{Infobox officeholder

|name= Donald O. Wright

|image=

|caption=

|order= 35th

|office=Lieutenant Governor of Minnesota

|term_start= September 3, 1954

|term_end= January 3, 1955

|governor= C. Elmer Anderson

|predecessor= Ancher Nelsen

|successor= Karl Rolvaag

|birth_date= {{birth date|1892|11|18|mf=y}}

|birth_place= Minneapolis, Minnesota

|death_date= {{death date and age|1985|7|24|1892|11|18|mf=y}}

|death_place= St. Louis Park, Minnesota

|party= Republican

|profession= politician

|spouse= Verna A. Wood

|footnotes=

}}

Donald Orr Wright Sr. (November 18, 1892 – July 24, 1985) was a United States Republican politician from the state of Minnesota. He served in the state legislature for eight years and the Minnesota State Senate for 35 years. He was President pro Tempore of the 58th Legislative Session (1953-1954).{{Cite web|title=Wright, Sr., Donald Orr "Don"|url=https://www.lrl.mn.gov/legdb/fulldetail?id=11880|access-date=2023-11-22|website=Minnesota Legislative Reference Library|language=en-US|archive-date=October 6, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231006192800/https://www.lrl.mn.gov/legdb/fulldetail?id=11880|url-status=live}}

Wright attended the University of Minnesota and was a member of Tau Kappa Epsilon fraternity.

Wright led the Senate's tax committee for many years and was instrumental in the state instituting its civil service system.{{Cite web |date=1985-07-26|title=Roy E. Dunn and Donald O. Wright |url=https://www.lrl.mn.gov/LegDB/articles/11880STObit.pdf|access-date=2023-11-22|website=Star Tribune |language=en-US}}

Following Ancher Nelsen's 1953 resignation as Lieutenant Governor of Minnesota, Wright assumed that office and held it for the remainder of one term, serving with Governor C. Elmer Anderson. Wright served in that role from September 1954 until January 1955; however during that period the Senate never met in session.