Rick Nolan, former northern Minnesota congressman, has died

Rick Nolan, 80, a former Democratic congressman from Minnesota’s 8th District, has died.

The Brainerd native won the northeastern Minnesota seat in 2012 and followed with two tricky re-election campaigns. He had previously served as a congressman from 1975-1981 and served as a member of the Minnesota House of Representatives from 1969-1973.

The day and cause of death have not been made public.

Nolan was first elected to the U.S. House in 1974, considered one of the “Watergate Babies” alongside the surge of dozens of Democrats who were voted in after Richard Nixon’s resignation.

“When you get in these tough election contests, you’ve got to give it everything you’ve got, or I don’t think you should run,” he told the Star Tribune in a February 2018 interview. “That’s what I did over the years, and that’s how I won. But now it’s time to give something back to my family and my wife, and I’m really hungry for more time with them.”

He had more than a dozen grandchildren on top of four children.

Sen. Grant Hauschild described Nolan as “one of a kind,” on social media.