Legislative resignations

There is one legislative resignations up in Central Minnesota, and another possible one: Representative Joe Opatz, a Democrat who represents St. Cloud, is leaving for a higher education job. The word is that he's been looking to get out of the legislature and into higher ed administration for a while now, so this isn't too surprising. Meanwhile, Senator Dave Kleis, the Republican who represents St. Cloud, will retire if he mayor against John Ellenbecker.

This means there could be some big changes up there. St. Cloud is a college town with a lot of social conservatives. However, these religious people, mainly Catholic, also have a strong social justice streak; it's not all about tax cuts, but truly caring about the poor. It will make for an interesting dynamic.