(C) Minnesota Reformer
This story was originally published by Minnesota Reformer and is unaltered.
. . . . . . . . . .
Justin Eichorn, R-Grand Rapids, resigns from Senate following federal charge • Minnesota Reformer [1]
['Madison Mcvan', 'Max Nesterak', 'Michelle Griffith', 'Christopher Ingraham', 'More From Author', '- March', '.Wp-Block-Co-Authors-Plus-Coauthors.Is-Layout-Flow', 'Class', 'Wp-Block-Co-Authors-Plus', 'Display Inline']
Date: 2025-03-20
From 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.
He will make his first appearance in court at 1:30 p.m. Thursday.
[END]
---
[1] Url:
https://minnesotareformer.com/2025/03/20/justin-eichorn-r-grand-rapids-resigns-from-senate-following-federal-charges/
Published and (C) by Minnesota Reformer
Content appears here under this condition or license: Creative Commons License CC BY-NC-ND 4.0.
via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds:
gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/MnReformer/
