Minnesota Lawyer
GOP Sen. Al DeKruif (Staff photo: Peter Bartz-Gallagher)
Republican Sen. Al DeKruif declined to say whether he has decided to reconsider his decision to retire rather than challenge his Senate GOP colleague Julie Rosen after the two were paired in the same district following redistricting this year, but he wouldn’t rule out the possibility either.
There was buzz following the Vikings stadium hearing Friday that DeKruif was reconsidering his decision to retire rather than take on Rosen for the GOP endorsement and seek re-election last fall.
Reached Saturday morning by phone, DeKruif declined to comment at length on the rumors, but didn’t deny that it was something that he was considering.
“It’s something I want to lay low on right now,” he said. “I’m not going to comment on that at this moment.”
Rosen has exposed herself to criticism from seemingly every corner this session by being the lead Senate author on the main Vikings stadium bill, and that antagonism has extended to some members of her own caucus as well. She faced a particularly harsh hearing Friday night as her Vikings bill cleared it final hurdle in Senate Taxes to head for a likely floor vote Sunday.
DeKruif, a first-term senator, announced his intent to retire about a month after the maps were released. He was drawn into Senate District 23, which doesn’t include most of his current territory that now belongs to Senate District 20.
At the time, DeKruif had supportive words for third-termer Rosen as she looked toward re-election.
“I am absolutely confident that Senator Julie Rosen will prevail and continue to be a conservative voice for our district,” he said at the time. “And I know that the new Senate District 20 will field an A-plus Republican candidate who will work to continue the amazing turn around we’ve accomplished in the past two years. I will aggressively work to elect them both as well as others throughout the state.”
