FILE - Former U.S. Sen. David Durenberger is seen in a November 1995 photo. Durenberger, a Minnesota Republican who espoused a progressive brand of politics and criticized the GOP after his political career, died Tuesday, Jan. 31, 2023, at age 88.
Former U.S. Senator David Durenberger, a Minnesota Republican who espoused a progressive brand of politics and criticized the GOP after his political career, died Tuesday at age 88. Durenberger’s health had declined in recent months, his longtime spokesperson Tom Horner said. Horner told The Associated Press that Durenberger died Tuesday morning of natural causes. He was at his St. Paul home surrounded by family.
Durenberger, an attorney and former captain in the U.S. Army Reserve, won a U.S. Senate seat in 1978. He served three terms and championed health care reform. He pushed proposals to expand Medicare benefits, protect rights for disabled people and promote gender equity. He was unanimously censured by the Senate in 1990 following a Senate Ethics Committee investigation into payments he received for book royalties and federal reimbursements for stays in a Minneapolis condo. In 1995, Durenberger also pled guilty to five misdemeanor charges related to the condo payments.
Sad news if Durrnberger’s passing. He was at my college graduation. A decent man- what if the GOP had followed his example? What if we had two political parties battling to improve our lives?