Former Minnesota Sen. Dave Durenberger dies at 88

ST. PAUL — David Durenberger, who rose from central Minnesota to the United States Senate, died Tuesday, Jan. 31, at age 88, according to his longtime friend and former chief of staff Tom Horner.

Durenberger served 16 years in the Senate, earning a reputation as an expert on health care, environmental policy and other national issues. His father was a coach and athletic director at St. John’s University in Collegeville, Minnesota, and his family lived on the campus.

Born in St. Cloud in 1934, he worked as an attorney and served in Gov. Harold LeVander’s office as executive secretary until 1971.

Durenberger, a Republican, was elected to the Senate in a special election in 1978 to fill Sen. Hubert Humphrey’s seat after Humphrey died. Durenberger was reelected in 1982 and 1988. He served in the Senate until 1995.

Durenberger chaired the Senate Intelligence Committee and a health subcommittee and became an expert on health care policy.

He died of natural causes at his St. Paul home, Horner said.

His time in the Senate also included a scandal.

In 1990, the Senate unanimously voted to censure Durenberger for ethics violations relating to $100,000 he took in speaking fees and for collecting federal travel reimbursements for stays in a Minneapolis condominium he owned to the amount of $40,055.

Durenberger stated his respect for the Senate and his colleagues after the vote, according to The New York Times.

“I love this Senate and cherish the ideals it stands for,” he said. “If anyone wants to judge my respect for the body and for each of you, I would suggest they look at my actions over the last 22 months to bring this matter to a conclusion.”

Soon after the Senate disciplined him, Durenberger chose not to seek reelection. He later pleaded guilty to misuse of public funds, serving a year of probation in 1995.

In an interview with MPR’s Gary Eichten in 2014, Durenberger said he felt a need to get things done while he was in the Senate.

"I don't want to say I love the Senate, that’s not that's not the appropriate expression,” he said. “But I learned early on to appreciate what an incredible gift that office is. And you don't want to waste a lot of time, you know, in taking advantage of it.”

He said as important as the legislation was that he passed, the relationships he had with Minnesotans were what he found to be the most important part of the job. And he said he gave that advice to other politicians.

"You are going to be remembered for all those relationships, built one person at a time, one incident at a time, one problem at a time, one challenge at a time,” Durenberger said. “And I really have little reason to doubt that that's the best way for anyone who wants to go into public service, whether it's the mayor of St. Cloud, or the county commissioner in Stearns County, or, it's a congressman or United States senator.

“You want to be remembered for how solid those relations were, and how faithful you were to the commitments that you've made.”

While Durenberger continued a life of public service outside of elected office, he distanced himself from the Republican Party, yet noted that he could never consider himself a Democrat. However, he publicly endorsed Democratic candidates Hillary Clinton in 2016 and Joe Biden in 2020 for president.

He served as the chair of the National Institute of Health Policy and various national health commissions and boards. He was also a senior health policy fellow at the University of St. Thomas.

"I think about the standard that Dave Durenberger set for policymaking in Minnesota in the nation, that he always put public service ahead of everything else,” Horner said Tuesday. “It wasn't about getting his name on a bill or program or policy. It was about doing what was right for the people of Minnesota."