Hennepin County Commissioner Linda Koblick, a passionate opponent of the funding plan for the new Twins ballpark, announced Tuesday that she will not seek a third term on the board.

Koblick, a Republican from Wayzata who has been a commissioner since 2002, said she decided that she needs more time for her aging parents, her children and for several businesses.

"2008 is going to be a busy election year and there are so many more personal things ... that I've put on the side burner for years and are demanding my attention now," she said. "I want to reconnect with things I really enjoy doing."

Before she joined the board as the representative from the county's Sixth District, Koblick served three terms on the Minnetonka City Council. Between regular and special elections, she said, she's probably run for office at least a dozen times.

Koblick was a vocal opponent of using a sales tax to help fund the new Twins ballpark without a referendum, a heated battle that she lost. On Tuesday, she said that while that issue was "very draining, very divisive, and one I hoped I would never see again," it is not the reason she is leaving office at the end of the year.

"I thought the taxpayers did not get a good deal," she said. "But I don't want my term in office to be defined by the ballpark issue."

She said she is most proud of her work on transportation and transit, particularly the conversion of the carpool-bus lanes on Interstate 394 to toll lanes and a focus on other affordable ways to reduce congestion. Koblick also initiated a strategic partnership between the county and the University of Minnesota.

Koblick's announcement means at least two of the three county board seats up for election this fall will be filled by newcomers. Seventh District Commissioner Penny Steele has already announced she will not seek reelection. Board chairman and Fifth District representative Randy Johnson has said he intends to run again.

Mary Jane Smetanka • 612-673-7380