Rep. Carly Melin, DFL-Hibbing, announced she will not seek re-election after finishing her third term this year. She'll focus on her law career and spending more time with family, she said in a release.
Melin worked on many Iron Range education and infrastructure issues during her tenure and said there was work to do during the upcoming legislative session, which begins in March.
She said in the release she "plan(s) to continue my focus on assisting Iron Range families who have been impacted by recent turmoil in the domestic steel market which in turn has impacted our taconite mining industry."
About 2,000 Iron Range mine workers have been laid off since last spring, devastating the economy of parts of northeastern Minnesota.
Melin also led a high profile fight to legalize medical marijuana and another bill to level the state's economic playing field for women
