MANKATO -- Democratic-Farmer-Labor Sen. Kathy Sheran, of Mankato, is joining the list of lawmakers deciding to take a pass on another term.
On Monday, the 68-year-old, who was first elected in 2006, announced that she would not run again. After working as a nurse and a Minnesota State University-Mankato professor, Sheran made a mark on a wide-ranging portfolio of issues, including health care, sex offender policy and child abuse and mental illness issues. In 2007, she was the chief Senate sponsor of the smoking ban that barred lighting up in restaurants and bars.
Sheran worked well with members of the opposite party and the measures she sponsored often won bipartisan support.
She was unopposed in her last re-election bid and comes from a district that leans strongly toward Democrats in its elections.
Sheran is the third Senate DFLer to announce retirement plans. Three Senate Republicans have also announced they will not run for re-election or have resigned.
