From staff reports RED WING -- Rep. Jerry Dempsey, a seven-term Republican legislator from Red Wing, has announced he won't run for an eighth-term during the 2006 election.

"I'm winding her up," Dempsey told the Red Wing Republican Eagle.

Dempsey was elected to the House in 1992 and re-elected six times.

Dempsey's decision has set off a scramble among contenders for his seat. Two early names to emerge on the GOP side are Gary Iocco and Teresa Whitson, two Red Wing-area residents. Also considering a run from the DFL is Sandy Wollschlager, who ran unsuccessfully against Dempsey in 2002 and 2004.