DULUTH — Renee Van Nett, the first Native American woman elected to Duluth's City Council, died Friday morning — just weeks after a diagnosis of terminal cancer.
"It is with heavy hearts we share news today that Renee Van Nett, mother, sister, daughter, friend, second term city councilor and past council president, and [Leech Lake] Band member passed away surrounded by family," the family announced on social media.
Van Nett, 52, was first elected in 2017 to represent Duluth's 4th District and was re-elected in 2021. She was council president last year and had served as a Duluth Economic Development Authority commissioner, Public Safety chair and was the founding member of the Citizen Review Board. She worked as the impact director at Head of the Lakes United Way.
Van Nett was part of the most racially diverse council in the city's history. While a good thing, it carried a burden, she told the Star Tribune in 2021.
"Paving the way for others is hard," she said. "It's a hard path."
In March, Van Nett kicked off a campaign in the District 8 state Senate race, describing herself as pro-jobs, "pro-economy, pro-environment and regulated protections for land, water, air and all living beings." Her slogan was "Not me, we." She dropped out in mid-May, seemingly around the time she learned her cancer had returned.
Van Nett had been through cancer during her first term on the city council, according to close friend Annie Harala. Her mission this time was clear.
"[Renee] literally said to her doctors, 'I don't want to know any stages, I just want to know what I can do to fight to be with my girls,'" Harala said, referring to Van Nett's teenage daughters Tia and Nevy, who were often by her side at city council meetings or at the state Capitol for Duluth and St. Louis County days.
