A DFL Party chairman for a southwestern Minnesota county and labor organizer was killed this week in a motorcycle crash, authorities said Friday.

John Spiegelhoff, 49, of Worthington, was killed in the collision late Thursday morning along Hwy. 59 in Murray County, according to the State Patrol.

Spiegelhoff, chairman of the Nobles County DFL, also was a staff representative for AFSCME Council 65.

"On behalf of the Minnesota DFL, we send our thoughts and prayers to John's family, friends, and loved ones," state DFL Chair Ken Martin wrote in a posting on Facebook.

Spiegelhoff was riding his motorcycle north on Hwy. 59 when he rear-ended a pickup truck that had slowed down to turn left, according to the State Patrol.

The pickup driver, Clarice L. Larson, 68, of Slayton, Minn., was not hurt, the patrol said.