ST PAUL, Minn. — Minnesota State Sen. Nicole Mitchell (DFL-Woodbury) returned to the Senate floor at the Minnesota State Capitol on Monday for the first time since being arrested on burglary charges.
Sen. Mitchell didn't speak during Monday's session and told reporters she couldn't speak to the media yet about her legal situation. But Senate Republicans had plenty to say about her criminal charge, and their belief that it should disqualify her from taking part in Senate votes.
The GOP attempted two motions designed to bar Mitchell from voting until the Sen. Ethics Subcommittee has finished its investigation, which could last well beyond the end of the 2024 session on May 20.
Sen. Carla Nelson, a Rochester Republican, made a motion that Mitchell be prohibited from voting, questioning the Democrat's judgment.
"This member, accused of such a serious crime of violence, should NOT be voting on the consequential, essential votes that are coming before this body in the next three weeks!" Sen. Nelson told her colleagues, insisting that Mitchell's arrest had cast a cloud over the session.
Prohibiting Mitchell from voting would have the potential to throw future action this session into uncertainty; the DFL party maintains a one-seat majority with Mitchell's vote, without it, a strict party-line vote on any bills or motions would result in a tie and failure.
Sen. Ron Latz, a St. Louis Park Democrat, asked Senate President Bobby Joe Champion to rule Nelson's motion out of order, asserting that it violated the state constitution and, therefore, Senate rules.
"No motion is in order that conflicts with the constitution of the state. Even if it were unanimous, such a motion would be null and void," Sen. Latz argued.
"Those are the Senate rules. So, if there wants to be a motion to change the Senate rules, go ahead, let’s have that debate. But that’s not the motion that’s before us."
After a lengthy debate, Sen. Champion ruled that Latz's point of order was well taken, so there would be no direct vote on Sen. Nelson's motion. Republicans appealed Champion's ruling and called for a roll call vote. The tally was 34 to 33 to uphold Champion's decision, with Sen. Mitchell casting the deciding vote.
A second motion, from Mazeppa Republican Steve Drazkowski, would've instructed the Senate Secretary not to record Mitchell's votes. Sen. Latz challenged the motion on the grounds that it was a "dilatory" maneuver designed simply to delay the Senate's business.
Sen. Champion once again ruled the motion out of order, and once again Democrats upheld his decision by a 34-to-33 vote.
After the session ended for the day, Senate Majority Leader Erin Murphy defended Mitchell's right to vote on Senate bills.
"Senator Mitchell is entitled to vote, and the people who sent her here from Woodbury, Senate District 47, are entitled to her representation. I think it’s important she’s here. I think it’s important she’s voting in person," Sen. Murphy explained.
"We’re dealing with fundamental principles of law, the Constitution, of representational democracy. We should not be the judge and the jury. We should not be ahead of the ethics committee or the court of law."
Senate Minority Leader Mark Johnson said Republicans will continue to insist that Mitchell should remain on the sidelines until after the Ethics Subcommittee has made a ruling on the ethics complaint filed by GOP members.
"Today, you saw Democrats side with Senator Mitchell, who, by the way, has been charged with first degree burglary. She is making the deciding votes," Sen. Johnson told reporters.
"She made the deciding vote on whether she should be voting on the floor. I hope you saw the irony in that."
He said if the Constitution gives the Senate the power to remove Mitchell from office, the Senate should also have the power to keep her from voting on bills.
The Ethics Subcommittee -- two Democrats and two Republicans -- will hold their first meeting on Mitchell complaint May 7. If they find there's probable cause to launch an investigation, that probe could last for months -- well beyond the end of the session.
On Sunday, DFL Senate Majority Leader Erin Murphy announced Mitchell would be removed from committee assignments and caucus meetings.
The first-term senator arrived to find that she had been assigned a new seat, because her previous seat was right next to Sen. Mary Kunesh, who is one of two Democrats on the Senate Ethics Subcommittee.
"Senator Kunesh is a member of the ethics committee, and so to make sure we are honoring the integrity of the ethics committee, we thought it was important to make that move," Sen. Murphy explained.
Mitchell has denied the burglary allegations. A police report said she initially claimed to be retrieving items belonging to her late father that her stepmother refused to give to her, but Mitchell later claimed in a Facebook post she was checking on a loved one with Alzheimer's disease.
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