Rep. Gottwalt quits Legislature after taking new job

State Rep. Steve Gottwalt said Thursday night that he would resign from the Minnesota Legislature.

The St. Cloud Republican took a lobbying job with the Center for Diagnostic Imaging of St. Louis Park and he had planned to lobby in states other than Minnesota to avoid conflicts of interest, MPR reported. But after more consideration, he said the new job would prevent him from fully serving his constituents, MPR said.

It was less than two months ago that he won a fourth term to the Minnesota House of Representatives. Gov. Mark Dayton would have to call a special election to fill the seat. The new legislative session begins Tuesday.

Gottwalt’s resignation will take effect by the end of the month, according to a letter to House colleagues released by the House GOP caucus Thursday night.

The St. Cloud Times notes that the lawmaker's announcement was made hours after reports surfaced of Gottwalt’s new job with CDI and weeks after DFL lawmakers questioned whether Gottwalt’s new lines of work would present him with conflicts of interest.

MPR reported last month that Gottwalt took a job from an insurance broker who lobbied him to create a voucher system for roughly 5,000 MinnesotaCare recipients.