Minnesota's Commerce Commissioner Steps Down

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ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — The state's top insurance regulator is stepping down from the job.

Gov. Mark Dayton announced Friday that Department of Commerce Commissioner Mike Rothman would step down immediately after more than six years on the job. He'll be replaced by Jessica Looman, who has served as a deputy commissioner with the Department of Labor and Industry since 2014.

Rothman had been the state's Commerce commissioner since Dayton became governor in 2011. His department helped set insurance rates for the individual market, facing sharp criticism as premiums skyrocketed in recent years.

He was also criticized by Republicans in 2014 for failing to crack down on a Minneapolis nonprofit whose executive was found to have misspent more than $1 million in public funds.

Rothman is expected to launch a bid for Attorney General.