Sen. Limmer on Retirement: ‘We’re All Temporary’

A longtime lawmaker representing Maple Grove will be stepping away from his seat in the Senate after this legislative session.

“We now have grandkids, two of them, and hopefully more to come,” said Sen. Warren Limmer on the opening day of the session. “And as I count and take stock of the days I have, I want to make sure that I have time with family. They’re the most important.”

Limmer has represented Maple Grove and its nearby cities for nearly 40 years. He was first elected to the House of Representatives in 1988, and was later elected to the Senate in 1995.

He said the death of Rep. Melissa Hortman, who was killed along with her husband in a politically-motivated attack last summer, as well as the shooting of Sen. John Hoffman, made him think about his own legacy.

Likewise, he said God “preserved John for a purpose we don’t know yet.”

“It makes us realize that we’re all temporary, and that we should do the best possible work for the people here in Minnesota as we can, because we never know when that time is going to end,” he said. “Quite honestly, I’m grateful for John’s preservation, and my prayers are continuing for Rep. Hortman and her family.”

Parting Thoughts and Moving Ahead

“[This session] we don’t have a whole lot of money left because we have some serious debt issues coming up in future immediate years,” Limmer said. “So there’s going to be no room for spending. We’ll be polishing up policy bills mostly.”

He said he’s interested to see how the public responds recent political events once his seat is up for grabs. Currently, DFLers control the Minnesota Senate, while there’s a tie between the parties in the Minnesota House of Representatives. 

“[There’s been] the first two years of the Trump administration, some tremendous work in the world-wide scene, the economy is turning around,” Limmer said. “We’ve got the local impact of what ICE has, what kind of influence that will have. There’s also an influence of people like [Minneapolis] Mayor [Jacob] Frey, who refuse to put police officers in between ICE and agitators. If he would have done that I think there would have been two protestors that would still be alive today. All of that influence is yet to be seen until November’s election.”

After retirement, Limmer plans to stay active in politics, but not likely from any elected office.

“My hands will be in it somewhere,” he said.

Maple Grove