Durenberger, former US senator from Minnesota, dies at 88

@ap.news FILE – Former U.S. Sen. David Durenberger is seen in a November 1995 photo. Durenberger, a Minnesota Republican who espoused a progressive brand of politics and criticized the GOP after his political career, died Tuesday, Jan. 31, 2023, at age 88. (AP Photo/Jim Mone, File)

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Former U.S. Senator David Durenberger has died at age 88. Durenberger was a Minnesota Republican who espoused a progressive brand of politics.

His longtime spokesperson says his health has declined in recent months and he died Tuesday morning at his St. Paul home. Durenberger won a U.S. Senate seat in 1978 and served three terms. He was a champion of healthcare reform. He was unanimously censured by the Senate in 1990 following an ethics investigation into payments he received for book royalties and federal reimbursements for stays in a Minneapolis condo.

In 1995, he pleaded guilty to five misdemeanor charges related to the condo payments. He became a critic of the Republican Party as it tilted toward fiscal conservatives focused on slashing government programs.