Sen. Barb Goodwin won’t run again

State Sen. Barb Goodwin, DFL-Columbia Heights, has announced that she will not seek re-election next year.

Goodwin
Sen. Barb Goodwin, DFL-Columbia Heights Minnesota Senate photo

Goodwin is serving her second term in the Minnesota Senate and is vice chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee and the Judiciary Budget Division. She previously served three terms in the Minnesota House.

Goodwin shared her retirement plans Thursday night at a Senate District 41 DFL meeting.

Goodwin did not immediately return phone messages.

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Goodwin said she was disappointed last session that more of the mental health reforms she worked on didn’t pass. She said the chaotic conclusion of the session was also a factor in her decision.

“That was very disturbing," Goodwin said. "The expectations that we will just vote on anything, whether or not we have a clue what’s in it. I haven’t ever really operated like that very well. So that really kind of cinched it for me. But I had been thinking about it before that as well.”

All 67 Minnesota Senate seats, as well as all 134 Minnesota House seats, are up for grabs in 2016.

The two state representatives in Goodwin’s district, Rep. Connie Bernardy, DFL-New Brighton and Rep. Carolyn Laine, DFL-Columbia Heights, have already announced that they will be candidates for the Senate seat in 2016.