Former Minnesota Republican Sen. David Durenberger, a Republican critic of the GOP after his political career, died Tuesday at age 88.
Durenberger’s health had declined in recent months, said longtime spokesman Tom Horner. Horner told The Associated Press that Durenberger died of natural causes early Tuesday morning. He was at home in St. Paul surrounded by his family.
Durenberger — former chief secretary to GOP Gov. Harold Levander, former corporate attorney and former U.S. Army captain — won a seat in the U.S. Senate in 1978. He served three terms and passed health care reform. He pushed proposals to expand Medicare benefits, protect the rights of people with disabilities, including the Americans with Disabilities Act, and promote gender equity.
“Senator Dave Durenberger was a true public servant,” Democratic US Sen. Amy Klobuchar, R-Minnesota, said in a statement. Klobuchar, who held Durenberger’s former seat, said he personally showed her a lot of kindness when she was first elected in 2006.
“He was a committed legislator who was always driven by his bipartisanship and commitment to improving people’s lives,” Klobuchar said. “His work to advance the Americans with Disabilities Act and prevent discrimination against people with disabilities has changed millions of lives for the better and made our nation stronger.”
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Durenberger’s first wife, Judy, died in 1998. She died of breast cancer in 1970, and was left a widower to raise four sons. His son, Dave Durenberger, said he remained an active father by attending their athletic meets.
In the year When he ran for office in the late 1970s, the kids put envelopes on their dining room table, joined rallies and helped on the campaign trail.
“He was kind of our north star on how to live our lives,” Dave Durenberger said.
During his time in the Senate, Durenberger went through turbulent times in his personal life. In 1985, he separated from his wife Penny – a personal pain he openly discussed with many journalists at the time. He married former staff member Susan Foote in 1995.
Former Minnesota Senator David Durenberger, pictured in April 1993. Durenberger, Republican of Minnesota, died on January 31, 2023, at age 88.
(AP Photo, File)
According to Dave Durenberger, his father has been a frequent presence at his grandchildren’s school and sporting events in recent years. Durenberger showed how he valued his family regardless of their social status.
“He tried to find the goodness or common bond he shared with everyone. Everyone had the potential to be his friend – whether it was the king of Jordan or a Jordanian refugee driving a taxi,” said Dave Durenberger.
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But Senator Durenberger faltered in 1990. He was unanimously censured by the Senate following an Ethics Committee investigation into the payment of book royalties and federal expenses to his Minneapolis condominium. In the year In 1995, Durenberger pleaded guilty to five felony charges related to condominium payments.
“If there is dirt on the seal of the United States Senate or on the North Star, as we like to call our state, I will do my best to restore both to shine,” Durenberger told his Senate colleagues. His blame.
In 1994, he decided not to run for re-election. After leaving politics, he worked on several initiatives focused on health care policy. As Chair of the National Health Policy Institute at St. Thomas Opus College of Business, he has addressed systemic health care issues.
As the Republican Party shifted toward fiscal conservatism and focused on slashing government programs, Durenberger became a critic. In the year In 2005, he told a Minnesota political podcast that Democrats were “better equipped to carry the day” on health care policy, though he said at the time that he would not be a Democrat.
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In the year He supported Democrats Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden against Donald Trump in the 2016 and 2020 presidential elections. And in the year In 2018, he co-authored a book with political reporter Lori Sturdevant titled “When Republicans Go Progressive.” He lamented the near-disappearance of the GOP wing, where lawmakers prided themselves on bipartisanship and wanted to help vulnerable people.
Horner said he will hold a service next week at Durenberger’s alma mater, St. John’s University in Collegeville.