Minnesota Rep. Jim Hagedorn dies at 59 after cancer battle

By STEVE KARNOWSKI
Associated Press

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — U.S. Rep. Jim Hagedorn, a conservative Republican from southern Minnesota who followed his father’s footsteps into Congress, has died after a battle with kidney cancer. He was 59. Jennifer Carnahan said in a Facebook post Friday that Hagedorn “passed away peacefully” Thursday night. Hagedorn was diagnosed with stage IV kidney cancer in February 2019, shortly after he began his first term, and just a couple months after he married Carnahan, then state chairwoman for the Minnesota Republican Party. Gov. Tim Walz ordered flags flown at half-staff through sunset Saturday in Hagedorn’s honor. Walz is expected to call a special election to fill out Hagedorn’s term for Aug. 9,