Longest-serving Minnesota legislator will retire rather than run again in 2020

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) – The all-time longest serving member of the Minnesota Legislature says he’ll retire instead of seeking re-election to a 25th two-year term.

Democratic Rep. Lyndon Carlson took office in 1973. He says he looks forward to being an active participant in the 2020 session, which convenes Feb. 11. But it will be the last for the 79-year-old retired teacher from Crystal.

Carlson chairs the powerful Ways and Means Committee.

According to the Legislative Reference Library, he’s the longest-tenured member of both the Minnesota House and the Legislature as a whole.

Carlson says the past 47 years have been “exceptionally fulfilling,”