Dille says 'no' to re-election bid

After months of consideration, State Sen. Steve Dille said he’s formally decided to not run for re-election.

When his current term ends on Jan. 3, 2011, Dille will have served 24 years in state government. “Of course, I want to thank the people of this district for the privilege of representing them in the Minnesota State Legislature,” he said.

“Basically, I’ve just been dragging my feet on making a public announcement on this thing,” he said, “because there’s people who want me to run and people who don’t want me to run.”

After rumblings of Dille’s intentions first surfaced, editorials in both this and other area papers offered him career advice. A June Leader editorial even encouraged him to run for governor.

“Running for governor is kind of a long shot,” Dille said. “It takes a lot of energy to do that. At this time, I’m not planning on running for any office, but I don’t want to rule anything out (in the future).”

Among reasons Dille cites for not seeking re-election is a widening disconnection between himself and Republican Party leaders in McLeod and Meeker counties.

“There has been a number of Constitution Party members who have joined the Republican Party, who demand the government do no more than what the Constitution calls for,” he said.

“There’s lots of conservative people that I consider my friends and my supporters,” Dille added, “but there is an element there that is troubled by some of the things I’ve voted for and some of the things I’ve done.”

For more on this story, see the Leader’s Nov. 17 print edition.

(Jorge Sosa is a staff writer for the Hutchinson Leader. He can be reached at sosa@hutchinsonleader.com)