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Capitol View®
Mike Mulcahy

Emmer acknowledges son’s “mistake”

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Dogged by his opponents' criticism of his own drunken-driving arrests in 1981 and 1991, Republican gubernatorial candidate Tom Emmer on Thursday acknowledged that his 20-year-old son Tripp was cited for underage drinking in July.

The alternative Twin Cities newspaper City Pages today posted photos on its website showing Emmer's 20-year-old son Tripp holding beer bottles at a party.

State court records show that in July Tripp Emmer pleaded guilty to an underage drinking petty misdemeanor citation. He paid a $100 fine and $85 in fees.

City Pages doesn't reveal the source of the Facebook photos it said were taken when Tripp Emmer was 19. The paper said the photos have since been removed from Facebook.

Tom Emmer's opponents have already made an issue of his DWI arrests. Emmer has not addressed the arrests in detail, but in a video on his website last spring, he said he had made mistakes and that God had given him a wakeup call.

Tripp Emmer appears in his father's first TV campaign ad.

One of the photos shows Tripp Emmer giving a thumbs-up sign over an apparently unconscious woman whose arms and face have obscene cartoons drawn on them.

This isn't the first time a candidate's family members have been drawn into a campaign.

In 2008, at the GOP National Convention in St. Paul the pregnancy of vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin's then 17-year-old daughter Bristol became national news. In the 2000 campaign former GOP Sen. Rod Grams had to respond to the arrest of his son Morgan on a variety of felony charges.

In a statement released late this morning, Emmer did not address the photos but acknowledged his son's citation for underage drinking.

"My son made a serious mistake and has paid the consequences," the statement said. "It was a mistake which many Minnesota families are all too familiar with. Like all the other challenges in life, our family is dealing with our son in this matter with humility, seriousness, and love."