Senate Majority Leader Kari Dziedzic, DFL-Minneapolis, in her office on Dec. 23, 2022. Photo by Max Nesterak/Minnesota Reformer.
One of the architects of the Democratic-Farmer-Labor party’s historic 2023 legislative session, Sen. Kari Dziedzic of Minneapolis, died on Dec. 27 of ovarian cancer. She was 62.
As Majority Leader, Dziedzic shepherded through the Senate dozens of DFL priorities that had long been stymied by divided government — while working from home, battling cancer, with just a one-seat majority in the chamber.
For 12 years, she represented northeast Minneapolis — where she was born and raised — in the state Senate.
“Her talents as a consequential and thoughtful leader made us all better legislators, and her examples of kindness, humor and selflessness made us all better people,” Senate Majority Leader Erin Murphy, DFL-St. Paul, said in a statement. “She was an uncommon leader and touched us all in a great many ways.”
Dziedzic’s seat will be vacant at the start of the 2025 session in January, leaving the Senate tied 33-33. The governor will call a special election to fill the seat in the safe DFL seat, though a timeline has not yet been announced.
Dziedzic was the daughter of Walt Dziedzic, a longtime Minneapolis City Council and Park Board member. Kari Dziedzic, too, spent much of her career in local government, working for the Minneapolis Park Board and the Hennepin County Board before joining U.S. Sen. Paul Wellstone’s staff as his executive assistant.
In the 1990s, Dziedzic spent 11 months working for the North Stars professional hockey team and owner Norm Green; Green routinely harassed her, she alleged in a 1994 lawsuit, and Green’s allies in the media painted her lawsuit as the tipping point that pushed Green to move the team from Minnesota to Dallas.
In the Senate, she advocated for victims of sexual harassment and assault, updating the Senate’s policy on nondiscrimination and anti-harassment, and sponsoring legislation to make it easier for victims of workplace sexual harassment to file suit.
Dziedzic stepped down as Majority Leader in February after a recurrence of the cancer that kept her home during the 2023 legislative session.
Dziedzic earned a reputation as a pragmatic and passionate leader, garnering respect from political opponents within her party and across the aisle.
“Senator Kari Dziedzic was a passionate legislator, a respected leader and a trusted colleague and friend. She will be remembered for her integrity and her compassion for Minnesotans, something that we all saw as she continued to serve even as she battled cancer,” Senate Minority Leader Mark Johnson, R-East Grand Forks, said in a statement.
In a 2023 Reformer profile, Dziedzic largely deflected praise and maintained focus on the work still to be done.
She leaves behind her mother, Pat Dziedzic, her five siblings and their spouses, and nieces and nephews.
She also leaves in her wake a long list of policy achievements that will touch the lives of nearly every Minnesotan: the right to abortion in law; free school lunch for all; climate regulation; driver’s licenses for undocumented people; and billions of dollars in funding for infrastructure and housing.