Updated March 21: In Minnesota Public Radio's always excellent Capitol View morning newsletter, Brian Bakst and Dana Ferguson report:
Of note on the special election watch, House GOP leaders said they’re keeping their eyes on members in that Senate district that might try to make the jump. With a 67-67 split in the House, it could give Democrats a temporary advantage if either Reps. Josh Heintzeman or Ben Davis ran and won the seat. That grew less likely later Thursday when Keri Heintzeman, the wife of House member Josh Heintzema, became the first to open a campaign . A special election date has not yet been set. Republicans would be favored in the district. Eichorn had held the District 6 seat since 2017.
The businesswoman, party activist and mother of six has set up a candidate's Facebook page, Keri Heintzeman for Senate, where her announcement is posted:
Her campaign website and X account listed on the page are works in progress. [End update]
Already, one DFL candidate has thrown her hat into the ring for the special election to replace Eichorn, the Brainerd Dispatch' editor Matt Erickson reports in DFLer LeClaire announces intention to seek Senate District 6 seat:
Shortly after Republican State Sen. Justin Eichorn announced his resignation on Thursday, March 20, Emily LeClaire announced her intention to seek a DFL endorsement to run for the Senate seat.
LeClaire, a lifelong Brainerd resident, was the DFL-endorsed candidate for the Minnesota House District 6B in the 2024 election but lost to incumbent Rep. Josh Heintzeman, R-Nisswa. . . .
From the Minnesota Reformer.
Justin Eichorn, R-Grand Rapids, resigns from Senate following federal charge
by Madison McVan and Max NesterakFrom a Hennepin County jail cell, Minnesota Sen. Justin Eichorn, R-Grand Rapids, has resigned from the Legislature, Senate Republicans announced Thursday morning.
Eichorn is facing a federal charge of attempted coercion and enticement of a minor.
The resignation came moments before the state Senate was expected to expel him during the chamber’s floor session at 11 a.m. That vote is no longer necessary.
Eichorn, who was arrested Monday in Bloomington, submitted a letter of resignation to Gov. Tim Walz.
The resignation saved the Senate from taking the unprecedented step of expelling a member, which has never been done on the chamber’s floor.
Senate Minority Leader Mark Johnson, R-East Grand Forks, said the allegations laid out in the federal charging documents were so “severe” and “damning” that the body had to expel him.
“This would have been a cloud hanging over the Senate,” Johnson said. “We don’t need another one of those.”
At a simultaneous news conference, Senate Democrats welcomed Eichorn’s resignation while continuing to defend their own caucus member, Sen. Nicole Mitchell, DFL-Woodbury, who faces felony burglary charges for allegedly breaking into her stepmother’s house.
“It is a night and day situation,” said Senate Majority Leader Erin Murphy, DFL-St. Paul. “The predatory behavior demonstrated in the criminal complaint… puts people at risk in this chamber.”
Mitchell was notably absent from the Capitol on Thursday, allowing her to avoid an awkward vote given the push by Republicans to expel her from the body. Sen. Erin Maye Quade, DFL-Apple Valley, said Mitchell had to take her child to a medical appointment.
Eichorn allegedly responded to an online advertisement for sex and agreed to meet a 17-year-old girl in person, but the girl was actually an undercover officer, according to charging documents. He was charged in a federal criminal complaint with one count of attempted coercion and enticement of a minor, and in Hennepin County district court with one count of allegedly attempting to hire a prostitute under 18 but at least 16. The state charge was later dropped following the federal charge, which carries a higher sentence.
A federal judge Thursday afternoon ordered Eichorn to stay in a halfway house until his trial. Eichorn will have his location monitored with GPS tracking; he will only be allowed to leave the halfway house for work, court dates, doctors’ appointments or other court-approved activities; he is barred from having unsupervised contact with minors; and he cannot use the internet without permission from his supervisory officer, and any internet use will be subject to monitoring.
Eichorn accepted the conditions. He wore a black polo and jeans in his first court appearance since his arrest on Monday. He was represented by a federal public defender, who said Eichorn was in the process of obtaining a private attorney, but the agreement was not yet finalized.
Eichorn’s next court date is March 26; he has not yet decided whether to plead guilty or contest the charge.
Photo: State Sen. Justin Eichorn, right, was arrested Monday in Bloomington. He’s a Grand Rapids Republican. Photo via Senate Media Services.
This Minnesota Reformer article is republished online under Creative Commons license CC BY-NC-ND 4.0.
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