Longtime Minnesota legislator Bruce Anderson has died.
The Republican state senator from Buffalo who first came to St. Paul in the Minnesota House in 1995, was 75 years old, and was not known to be suffering from any illness.
Senate GOP leader Mark Johnson called Anderson a dear friend to many at the state capitol and in his hometown.
Governor Walz posted on social media that his fellow military veteran will be missed in the Senate chamber.
The family is expected to make an announcement at a later date.
There will be a special election to fill Anderson's seat, which is located in a heavily Republican area of the west metro.
Anderson was first elected to the Minnesota House of Representatives district 19-B in the 1994 election, taking the oath of office the following year.
After being re-elected to the House eight times, Anderson won the district 29 Senate seat in 2012 by defeating Democrat Brian Doran with more than 60 percent of the vote.
He won his fourth state Senate term in 2022 with 68 percent of the vote.
Throughout his time at the state capitol, where he represented Wright County and three communities in Hennepin and Meeker counties, Anderson focused on issues like agriculture, broadband access and public safet
Anderson was born in 1950 and raised on a dairy farm.
He served in both the US Navy and Minnesota Air National Guard.
Details on services are not announced.