ST. PAUL (AP) - Former U.S. Sen. Rod Grams has entered hospice care following a cancer diagnosis in April 2012.

A spokesman for the Grams family confirmed the development on Wednesday. Kent Kaiser, a longtime GOP activist, says Grams is in hospice at his home in the eastern Minnesota town of Crown.

Grams, a Republican, served a single term in the U.S. Senate from 1995 to 2001. He lost his re-election bid to Democrat Mark Dayton, now Minnesota's governor.

He previously served one term in the U.S. House, after working for nearly a decade as lead news anchor for KMSP-TV in the Twin Cities.

Kaiser says Grams is upbeat, can still get around by himself and has been receiving visitors. Kaiser says Grams is the most approachable and down-to-earth politicians he has ever known.

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