Reps. Frazier, Robbins Offer Emotional Goodbyes to House

With the Minnesota Legislature’s 2026 session coming to a close, lawmakers from New Hope and Maple Grove were among those saying goodbye to the Capitol.

Reps. Cedrick Frazier (DFL-New Hope) and Kristin Robbins (R-Maple Grove) will be leaving the House this year as their terms expire.

Frazier, a former member of the New Hope City Council, is vying to replace Mary Moriarty as Hennepin County Attorney.

Meanwhile, Robbins, who chairs the House Fraud Committee, recently dropped out of the governor’s race, telling CCX News “it just became clear that I wasn’t getting the traction I needed to really run a fantastic campaign.”

The pair, at times emotional and fighting back tears, looked back on their careers in their May 18 final floor speeches. 

Robbins noted her bipartisan partnerships, but also offered a warning that state government has grown too large and unwieldy.

 “Collectively, our ideas are better together,” she said. “State government has exploded. In that eight years that I’ve served, the size of state government, just our layer [of] state government, has grown 48 percent. It’s not sustainable, and it’s too big to manage.”

Frazier, who served three terms, reflected on the loss on of Rep. Melissa Hortman, who was assassinated along with her husband and dog in her Brooklyn Park home last summer.

“Losing Melissa reminded me that you can’t take it for granted,” he said. “I am falling apart because it has not really hit me until now. Because I’ve always been taught, also by my mother that, focus on what’s in front of you, get the job done. And then you can enjoy it. So this session I’ve been working hard, keeping my head down, doing the work of the people.”

Both Robbins’ and Frazier’s seats will be up for election this November.

Maple Grove | New Hope