Minnesota Legislature to lose 600 years of experience

Six centuries of experience are leaving the Minnesota Capitol building.

Those 600 years, spread out among 47 retiring senators and representatives, became official on Tuesday as the deadline passed to file to run for office in Minnesota this year. A few more legislators quietly declined to run again, adding their names to the long list of people who have already said their goodbyes.

A dozen more legislators are leaving one chamber to run for another, but their return is not guaranteed. A large number of retirements is typical in redistricting years, when the state's political boundaries are redrawn and scramble the political dynamics in districts across the state.

But this year's retiring class represents roughly a quarter of the 201-seat Legislature, the biggest exodus from the legislative branch since the 1970s, according to the Minnesota Legislative Reference Library.

The list includes six past and present leaders of their legislative caucuses, the Senate president, 17 current committee chairs and historic Latino representation in both chambers.

Among the class of candidates running this fall, nearly a dozen former legislators are running to return to the Capitol, according to a list compiled by lobbyist Gary Carlson. But even if all of those former members won their races, it would only return 57 years of experience to the Capitol.