Top Democratic leaders, including Governor Mark Dayton, are calling on D-F-L state Senator Dan Schoen from Saint Paul Park to step down amid allegations of sex harassment. Senate Democratic Leader Tom Bakk says there are sufficient allegations against Schoen for probably a full-blown ethics committee investigation. Bakk says it will be “very, very hard for the senator [Schoen] to prevail against kind of what the public perceptions are…. I’m *not* pronouncing him guilty, but under the Senate rules, he’s bringing dishonor to the institution by the allegations coming forward.”
Meanwhile in the Minnesota House, Democrats accuse Republican Speaker Kurt Daudt (DOWT) of making false statements when he said that he has not received “a specific complaint of sexual harrassment since I have been speaker.” A spokeswoman says House Democratic Minority Leader Melissa Hortman last May informed Daudt of allegations of inappropriate behavior by a male Republican lawmaker during the 2017 legislative session. Daudt responds he “was not made aware of specific complaints and names of those responsible despite repeated requests for information in that meeting.”