“Yes,” he answered when asked by the News Tribune editorial board this week whether, after the Republicans took control of the Minnesota Legislature in the Nov. 2 election, he wished he had run for another term.

“If I would have known then what I know now,” the Republican lamented, and “given what I’ve been through and hoped to accomplish, but that (the DFL-controlled Legislature) blocked. But you can’t predict the future. And of course, I made my decision after the 2008 election when President Obama and the Democrats swept everything. I looked at that and (decided against) having to go over there and ram heads with (DFL Sen. Larry) Pogemiller and (DFL Rep. Margaret Anderson) Kelliher and their like. (There was a) high probability of that. Hindsight is 20/20.”