What the arrest of a Grand Rapids senator could mean for the Minnesota Legislature

[MUSIC PLAYING] NINA MOINI: A developing story this afternoon. Republican state Senator Justin Eichorn remains in custody today. He faces widespread calls to resign from members of both political parties after an arrest on suspicion of attempted solicitation of a minor. The person turned out to be an undercover detective. It's the latest upheaval in a legislative session that has seen plenty of it. Clay Masters is here with the latest. Thanks for your time, Clay.

CLAY MASTERS: You're welcome. Thank you.

NINA MOINI: What do you know at this point about this situation?

CLAY MASTERS: Senator Eichorn is being held in Hennepin County Jail after being arrested around 6:00 PM. This was on Monday in Bloomington. He's being held on suspicion of solicitation of someone under 18, prostitution. According to police, he thought he was communicating with a 16-year-old girl, when in fact it was an undercover detective. So he was arrested when he showed up at a restaurant in Bloomington. He could be charged with a felony. Eichorn is 40 years old, first elected to the state senate in 2016. The senate website bio shows he's married and has four children. We're still waiting to see the charging details.

NINA MOINI: OK, clay. What was the mood like in the capital when this news came out?

CLAY MASTERS: It was almost 24 hours ago. I went over to the senate state and local government committee, where Senator Eichorn is his party's ranking member on that committee. There was his empty seat, name badge right there on the ledge of this hearing room table. You can kind of see senators looking at their phones as word was getting out, some kind of side conversations happening. And then quickly, everybody just started calling on him to resign, it seems. Both parties-- pretty loudly from Republicans.

The Republican senate caucus put out a statement from all of his colleagues, basically saying, kind of in unison, that they're, quote, shocked by the reports, and this alleged conduct demands an immediate resignation. Went on to say he has a difficult road ahead and needs to focus on family. Senate DFL leader Erin Murphy said the felony allegation against him is deeply disturbing and raises serious questions that will need to be answered by the court, as well as his caucus and constituents.

NINA MOINI: What is Senator Eichorn known for during his time in the senate?

CLAY MASTERS: Well, he came in to the senate during what was a pretty big wave for Republicans back in 2016. That was when the Republican party made some pretty big gains in greater Minnesota and won seats that were long represented by Democrats. He was making headlines as recently as earlier this week. He was one of the Republican co-sponsors of that bill that would designate, quote, unquote, Trump derangement syndrome as a mental illness.

Northern Minnesotan, known for his defense of mining, gun rights, outdoor recreation, also made some national headlines last year for a bill seeking to buy those ruby red slippers for the Judy Garland Museum in his hometown. And I do want to note here that I did leave a message on a phone number associated with Eichorn. I don't know whether he has hired an attorney yet. We're still working on confirming that.

NINA MOINI: Sure. A lot of things developing, Clay. And this is just another unexpected turn in this Minnesota legislative session. What kinds of implications does this have on the ongoing business there?

CLAY MASTERS: Yeah. I mean, obviously remains to be seen. And like you said, this is just the latest distraction in a session full of them. Started things out with that tie in the house. There was that long running power feud in that chamber, and then the Supreme Court had to step in. And in the senate, the chamber we're talking about, we have Democratic senator Nicole Mitchell still facing her alleged burglary trial after the session adjourns.

Republicans are continuing to bang that drum that they want Mitchell out. And Nina, one interesting note here. We got an email yesterday from Mitchell's attorney defending Senator Eichorn's right to due process. He's not representing the Republican senator, but he said it was wrong for people to rush straight to calls for resignation before he's even been charged or heard in court.

NINA MOINI: Which was also their call for Senator Mitchell. So if Eichorn resists calls to resign, what would happen then, Clay?

CLAY MASTERS: I mean, he'll face a lot of pushback from his colleagues in the senate, and I wouldn't be surprised if they voted to remove him anyway. The senate won't reconvene on the floor until tomorrow. Committees are in full swing as we're speaking right now. So if Eichorn resists the calls to resign, any move to force him out would have to wait until tomorrow. And the senate needs a 2/3 majority vote to force a sitting senator out of office.

NINA MOINI: OK. And if Eichorn resigns or senators force him out, when would they hold a special election, and what would that special election result do? Could it change the makeup of the power in the Senate chamber in any way?

CLAY MASTERS: Well, if he did opt to step down, it could be weeks or months before voters in the district would cast ballots in a special election and actually see a new lawmaker seated at the capitol. We could see a shoe on the other foot fight about how rapidly one could get scheduled. Remember, Republicans went to court to head off a quick special election when a house seat was shaping up as a vacancy. The Supreme Court ruled in the Republican lawsuit that Governor Walz acted too hastily in calling one quickly.

But here, it's a sitting lawmaker, not a representative elect, who might be stepping aside. So there is this law that could come into play. We're continuing to monitor the situation, but this is a pretty Republican safe seat. So right now, the Senate is 34 to 33 with Democrats in the majority, and I would expect a special election would likely return that to a Republican in that seat if or when we get there.

NINA MOINI: All right, Clay. Thanks for keeping us up to speed.

CLAY MASTERS: You're welcome. Thanks, Nina.

NINA MOINI: That was Senior Politics Reporter Clay Masters.