Minnesota First District Congressman Jim Hagedorn has died at the age of 59 of kidney cancer.
Fellow Congressman Dean Phillips, who represents the Third District and joined the House the same year as Hagedorn, told WCCO's Vineeta Sawkar that his Republican colleague will be missed.
"He was a passionate advocate for those he represented, and was a man of decency," he said.
Hagedorn's wife, former Minnesota state GOP chair Jennifer Carnihan, made the announcement Friday morning on social media.
Hagedorn was diagnosed in 2019 and was treated at Mayo Clinic in Rochester. Last July, he announced that the cancer had returned.
Then in early January of this year, he tested positive for COVID, and was re-admitted to the hospital for observation.
He said he was fully vaccinated and only had mild symptoms.
The Republican was in his second term, winning the southern Minnesota district that had been represented by congressman Tim Walz, who became governor.
Born in Blue Earth, Hagedorn was the son of four-term Second District Congressman Tom Hagedorn, 78, who served from 1975 to 1983.