Bly to not seek re-election in District 20B

Ten years in the Minnesota House will be enough for Rep. David Bly (DFL-Northfield).

“It’s a difficult decision to leave the work I love doing and pursue other opportunities – but my heart tells me it is the right time to let a younger person step forward; therefore I decided to announce my retirement from the State Legislature,” Bly said in a Monday statement that he will not seek re-election. “It’s been a pleasure and honor to represent the amazing people in my district. I cannot express how grateful I am for the trust they’ve placed in me to be their voice as we’ve worked to bring the values we share to St. Paul.”

The retired educator currently serves on the House Education Innovation Policy Committee and both agriculture committees. He also served on energy, environment, housing and judiciary committees during his time in the House.

After two unsuccessful attempts, Bly was first elected to the House in 2006. He lost his seat by 31 votes in the 2010 election, but regained it two years later.

“I’m proud of the work I accomplished serving on Legislative committees overseeing Higher Education, Early Childhood, K-12 education, Housing and Public Health, to Environment, Energy and Agriculture,” according to the statement. “I’ve worked hard to promote policies that would help my constituents. I am thankful I have had the opportunity to serve on the Legislative Energy and Water Commissions. In my first terms I worked hard to protect landowners from the advance of utility powerlines and I have worked to implement important health care legislation and supported improvements in our education system, cleaning up our environment and improving our food production system. My primary focus has been to ensure everyone has the opportunity to do better than those who came before them and to leave a better world for those who will come after.”