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Published June 10, 2012, 10:00 AM

AP Interview: Stadium could be lawmaker's legacy

MOORHEAD, Minn. (AP) — Retiring lawmaker Morrie Lanning insists that his controversial and successful campaign to help finance a $975 million Minnesota Vikings stadium did not drive him from a 39-year-career in public service.

By: By Dave Kolpack, Associated Press, The Jamestown Sun

MOORHEAD, Minn. (AP) — Retiring lawmaker Morrie Lanning insists that his controversial and successful campaign to help finance a $975 million Minnesota Vikings stadium did not drive him from a 39-year-career in public service. But he says his reputation as a diplomatic leader was never more tested.

The Moorhead Republican representative tells The Associated Press he was threatened in e-mails and phone calls, chastised on blogs and snubbed by members of both parties. Ultimately, it took an 11th-hour deal after Lanning told the Vikings that they needed to pony up more money or the largest state project in Minnesota history was off.

As Lanning prepares to retire, he says he wishes work he's done on poverty-related issues got the attention the stadium received — but if the stadium is his legacy, that's OK.

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