Jim Ramstad, congressman who championed mental health and recovery issues, dies at 74

Jim Ramstad, a moderate Republican congressman from Minnesota whose battle with alcoholism led him to become a champion of mental health and recovery issues, died Nov. 5 at his home in Wayzata, Minn. He was 74.

The cause was Parkinson’s disease, said his former chief of staff, Dean Peterson.

Mr. Ramstad served nine terms in the U.S. House before retiring in 2009. He represented Minnesota’s 3rd Congressional District, which includes several Minneapolis suburbs. He also served for nearly a decade in the Minnesota Senate before his congressional victory in 1990.