As the 2026 Legislative Session approaches, a local senator says this one will be his last.
District 15 Republican Sen. Gary Dahms, announced last Thursday that he won’t seek another term, ending a political career that began in 2010 “It was a tough decision,” the 79-year-old Dahms told the Tracy Area Headlight Herald. “I don’t pay much attention to age … at the end of this term I will be 80, the end of the next term I will be 84 — I’m in good health now, but if I go for four more years and start having health issues … at my age, four years is quite a piece of time compared to when I was 20 years younger.” Dahms, a strong advocate for education and childcare, has a number of legislative achievements under his belt. He authored a bill for a statewide reinsurance program that has significantly decreased health insurance costs for Minnesota and has become a model for other states. He worked to increase funding for Minnesota’s rural nursing homes, assisted living facilities, and homes for the disabled, has secured bonding funds for wastewater infrastructure in several of Minnesota’s small rural communities, and helped establish an agricultural education degree program at SMSU.
DAHMS
Working across the aisle in St. Paul, Dahms said, has become increasingly difficult. In his nearly 20 years in politics, Dahms never served under a Republican governor, and has had to fight many losing battles, especially since Democrats took control of the House and Senate under Gov. Tim Walz in 2022.
“It’s becoming harder to work across the aisle, but was still doable,” he said, “but when the trifecta came along, that changed drastically. When you have the House, the Senate and the governor’s office, you can pretty much dictate exactly what’s going to be done and how it’s going to be done, and there’s not enough votes to offset it.”
Dahms added that about 80% of the bills that are passed are of a bipartisan nature, but when it comes to dealing with the budget, things get sticky for Republicans.
“I think it’s gotten tougher to work across the aisle,” he said.
Dahms’ leadership roles in the Senate include being a Chair, Co-Chair, and Minority Lead of the Senate Commerce and Consumer Protection Finance and Policy Committee; and Vice-Chair of the Senate Agriculture and Rural Economies Committee and the Senate Education Finance Committee. Dahms has also served on both the Majority and Minority of the Minnesota Senate Republican Caucus leadership team.
Dahms admits he never saw himself as a politician, even after so many years in St. Paul.
“A lot of times I look at politicians whose biggest concern is the next election — ‘How do I get re-elected?’” he said. “I’ve always felt we should just do our job, work on the issues and do what you can to try to help move things along for people. On the other hand, if you’re making decisions based on how it’s going to affect your next election, that kind of hampers what your decision-making process will be. I really tried to stay away from worrying about the next election.”
Dahms said he is unsure at this point whether or not he will retire from his work as an insurance agent, a role he’s been in for nearly 30 years.
Dahms’ announcement comes two weeks after one of the region’s other voices in St. Paul, Republican Sen. Bill Weber of Luverne, announced he would not seek re-election after 14 years in the Senate.
