Republican State Senator Steve Drazkowski and Senate Minority Leader Mark Johnson announcing a new ethics complaint against Sen. Nicole Mitchell (Photo/Minnesota Senate Media Services)
ST. PAUL (KFGO-WCCO) – Minnesota Senate Republicans announced they are filing new and updated ethics complaints against embattled state DFL Senator Nicole Mitchell.
“Senate Republicans have been very clear,” says Minority Senate Leader Mark Johnson. “Her actions have damaged the integrity of the Senate, and distracted us from the important work that we need to be doing here.”
Senator Mitchell is charged with a felony after breaking into her stepmother’s Detroit Lakes home in April 2024.
“The reality is that this cloud is just hanging over the Senate right now,” Johnson said at a press conference Tuesday. “And so when you’re constantly having party line votes 34-33, over and over again, and you have somebody that’s been accused of two felony level crimes, she’s the one that that’s casting the deciding vote on a lot of these cases that really brings into question what we’re doing in the Minnesota Senate.”
Earlier this month, she was additionally charged with possession of burglary or theft tool. Mitchell denies the charges and claims her father had recently died and her stepmother refused to talk to her or other family members.
Mitchell’s criminal trial is set to begin in June, after the legislative session ends, but Republicans want her removed from the chamber before that point.
Republican State Senator Steve Drazkowski says the new complaint against Mitchell cites her vote on a floor motion related her expulsion on January 27th.
“Her vote was a deciding vote that prevented the expulsion vote from occurring,” Drazkowski explained. “Our contention is simple. Senator Mitchell has a conflict of interest in any vote related to her political future.”
Democrats hold a slight one-seat advantage in the State Senate, making Mitchell’s vote a key political issue for both sides.
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