Democrats Again Defending Sen. Mitchell
By Senator Steve Green
Earlier this week, we once again had a discussion regarding Senator Nicole Mitchell and her place in the Senate. As a reminder, last year on April 22nd, Sen. Mitchell from Woodbury broke into her stepmother’s home in the middle of the night, wearing all black, and using a flashlight covered with a black sock. She claimed she was there to retrieve belongings and perform a wellness check, yet in her statement to police at the scene, she admitted she did something wrong. Her stories were conflicting. She was charged with felony burglary. Because of this, we tried many times to hold her accountable for her actions. Yet Democrats defended her every step of the way last year.
This year Republicans brought forward a motion to expel her. We believe her actions are unbecoming of a senator, and she has not been held accountable at all for what she did. Last year, the excuse for not expelling her was that she needed “due process” and to have “her day in court.” So, we waited. And we waited some more. She even had an Ethics hearing. Now, this year, her court date has come and gone. It was set to take place the last week in January. Once again, she used her title as a State Senator to get the Court date pushed back. She’s using a circular argument to continue pushing off the issue.
What we’re left with is a sitting senator who has abused her power and used her title to keep herself from facing the consequences of her actions. All too often, people in government carve out their own niche where laws don’t apply to them the way they would an average citizen.
Until the elected senator from SD60 is seated, our chamber is tied 33-33. Though we have Republican and Democrat caucuses, a group of Democrats split off to create a new caucus, calling themselves the “Blue Dogs.” They formed their group to be more independent, and in their own words, “The Minnesota Senate Blue Dog Coalition stands for pragmatic, reasonable, and balanced policies that reflect the values of all Minnesotans.” Yet Minnesotans have been clear since the first time this issue came up – they do not think Sen. Mitchell should retain her seat in the chamber. But the Blue Dog members fell in lock step with the Democrats and blocked us from expelling Sen. Mitchell. We had hoped that they would be willing to work with us. I’m disappointed they didn’t, instead opting to follow Democrats’ lead. Their actions once again allowed Sen. Mitchell to be the deciding vote on the motion relating to her action. Without her vote, we could’ve moved forward to expel. It’s a clear conflict of interests.
Given these unique circumstances, we need to find a way to move forward. This issue should not hold back the Senate’s work for any longer than it already has.