Tag Archives: Minnesota

The Minnesota Star Tribune reports: Republican state Sen. Justin Eichorn resigned Thursday following his arrest earlier this week in an underage prostitution sting. Eichorn submitted his letter of resignation, effective Thursday, less than an hour before the Minnesota Senate was set to take an unprecedented vote to expel him from the chamber. Minnesota Senate Secretary Tom Bottern read Eichorn’s resignation letter …

The Minnesota Star Tribune reports: Minnesota state Sen. Justin Eichorn allegedly arranged to meet someone he thought was a teenage girl for prostitution and instead was arrested by police in Bloomington, authorities announced Tuesday. After Eichorn’s arrest, the Senate Republican Caucus said in a statement, “We are shocked by these reports, and this alleged conduct demands an immediate resignation. Justin …

Minneapolis’s Fox affiliate reports: A Minnesota Senator from Grand Rapids was arrested, accused of soliciting a minor for prostitution. Sen. Justin Eichorn, 40, was arrested on March 17 in Bloomington. The Bloomington Police Department says they communicated with a man who thought he was talking to a 16-year-old girl. On March 17, a detective arranged to meet with him near …

Mint reports: A controversial bill introduced in the Minnesota Senate seeks to modify the state’s definition of mental illness by including a new condition labeled Trump Derangement Syndrome (TDS). The bill, if enacted, would amend Minnesota Statutes 2024 to formally recognize TDS as a mental health disorder. The proposed legislation, introduced during Minnesota’s Ninety-Fourth Legislative Session, aims to redefine mental …

The New York Times reports: Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota, who rose from relative obscurity to become the Democratic nominee for vice president last year, will not run for his state’s open Senate seat in 2026 and will instead begin the process to seek a third term as governor, his spokesman said Wednesday. “Governor Walz is not running for the …

Politico reports: Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz is considering a run for Senate next year, according to a person close to the governor who was granted anonymity to describe internal deliberations. His consideration of the seat comes after Sen. Tina Smith (D-Minn.) announced her retirement from the blue-leaning battleground on Thursday. Smith was tapped to replace former Sen. Al Franken when …

Minnesota Public Radio reports: U.S. Sen. Tina Smith announced Thursday she will retire after next year, opting against a 2026 bid for another six-year term and putting a Democratic-held seat in play in an increasingly competitive Upper Midwest. The decision comes after Smith had been conveying her plan to run again for a seat she has held since 2018. She …

Duluth’s Fox affiliate reports: While the criminal cases against former Duluth Vineyard youth pastor Jackson Gatlin were prevented by a plea deal, new lawsuits aim to discover how sexual abuse within the church went overlooked for so long. On Nov. 6, Jackson Gatlin pled guilty to five counts of Criminal Sexual Conduct with a child. Gatlin received a 13-year sentence …

Newsweek reports: Outrage ensued after Satanists were allowed to set up a holiday display at the Minnesota State Capitol this year. The Minnesota Satanists shared in a Facebook post over the weekend that they have their first-ever holiday display at the Capitol building in St. Paul, sparking a wave of criticism from Republicans toward Governor Tim Walz, a Democrat. Representative …

Yahoo News reports: A former Duluth youth pastor has been sentenced to 13 years in prison for sexually assaulting multiple young girls during his time at the church. Jackson Michael Gatlin, 36, was sentenced to 156 months in prison yesterday after pleading guilty to five counts of criminal sexual conduct on Nov. 6. He must also register as a sex …

The Minnesota Star-Tribune reports: Jackson Gatlin, dressed in a dark suit with his hands cuffed behind his back, was led by authorities from the courtroom Wednesday morning after pleading guilty to felony-level criminal sexual conduct in a case where numerous women have come forward with similar accusations of being sexually assaulted as girls when he was their youth leader at …

The Daily Beast reports: Royce White, the GOP Senate candidate in Minnesota who once wrote that the “bad guys won” World War II, had another bizarre take Monday—this time about the downsides of being married to an “educated” woman. On a Nov. 1 radio interview on far-right Christian preacher Jesse Lee Peterson’s The Fallen State, White, who also said he …

The Steele County Times reports: The former youth minister and principal of a school associated with Christian Family Church in Owatonna has been sentenced a 21-month prison term, stayed for five years, and 364 days in jail. Luverne Daniel Zacharias, 46, of Medford, was remanded to custody immediately after the sentencing Monday; he has no credit for time served. He …

The Daily Beast reports: Royce White, the 2024 Republican nominee for Senate in Minnesota, wrote in a social media post two years ago that “the bad guys won in WWII.” White’s controversial opinion on World War II, first noted by Heartland Signal, is still up. A former NBA player who whined last year that “women have become too mouthy,” White …

The Minnesota Star-Tribune reports: The Minnesota Star Tribune/MPR News/KARE 11 Minnesota Poll found Vice President Kamala Harris and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz with a 48% to 43% lead over Trump and Sen. JD Vance of Ohio. Seven percent of respondents said they remain undecided, while fewer than 2% of those polled said they would vote for a third-party candidate. The …

Bloomberg News reports: North Carolina has been moved to “toss up” from “lean Republican” by the Cook Political Report, as Vice President Kamala Harris gains ground with Democrats and independents. “The Tar Heel State looks more competitive than ever,” Cook’s Publisher Amy Walter said in an Aug. 27 report. President Joe Biden had been trailing Republican Donald Trump by almost …

CBS News reports: Republican Royce White has defeated Joe Fraser in the Minnesota primary election and will face incumbent Democratic Sen. Amy Klobuchar on the November ballot. White, a 33-year-old Minneapolis native who briefly played in the NBA, beat Fraser in what political experts saw as a struggle for the soul of the Minnesota Republican Party. Fraser, 50, was originally …

USA Today reports: Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., beat back a primary challenger Tuesday in a closely watched race after two of her progressive colleagues lost their own primary bids earlier this year in the face of massive spending from pro-Israel groups. The Minnesota lawmaker’s victory came after Reps. Jamaal Bowman, D-N.Y., and Cori Bush, D-Mo., all members of the informal …

“I met with Bobby Kennedy last winter. We met for three hours. Apparently, I came in second. He chose his woman [Nicole] Shanahan as running mate. Bobby’s still a friend of mine, but I’ll tell you where I stand right now. “I’m going to be selfish. A few years ago I got the opportunity to see the United States elect …

CBS News reports: A Twin Cities day care worker is accused of taking nude photographs of some of the young children in his care. Wednesday, prosecutors charged 39-year-old Eric Allen with having pornography on his computer and phone. Allen worked at Mount Carmel Child Care Center in northeast Minneapolis. The day care center is part of Mount Carmel Lutheran Church. …