Minnesota Senate Democrats made headlines this week when Democrat Senate Majority Leader Erin Murphy stated to the press and on the Senate floor that Senator Nicole Mitchell has been “removed” from the DFL caucus and she was stripped of committee assignments. Mitchell was arrested last week from first degree burglary of an elderly woman in Detroit Lakes who allegedly is suffering from Alzheimer’s.
Democrat Senator Rob Kupec, who represents the victim of Sen Mitchell in the Senate, stated on a radio show appearance earlier this week that Mitchell was removed from the DFL caucus. “What we did as a caucus, what we can do, is that we removed her from our caucus” stated Rob Kupec according to a radio show appearance quote mentioned by Sen Jordan Rasmussen on the Senate floor.
In a heated floor session this morning, Senate Republicans made motions to follow the Senate’s rules and even out the representation on the rules committee following the statement that Mitchell was no longer a member of the DFL caucus. If Mitchelle was indeed removed from the DFL caucus, the DFL and Republican caucuses would both have 33 members, and therefore there would not be a majority caucus.
However, statements from both Senator Ron Latz and Senator Erin Murphy appear to make it look like Mitchell is still a member of the DFL Caucus despite previous public statements. Senator Kupec refused to speak on the Senate floor when being asked whether Mitchell was still a member by other senators.
A motion made by Sen Drazkowski to address the committee make ups in lieu of Mitchell no longer being a part of the DFL caucus, failed with ALL Democrats voting against it. It appears they are keeping her in their caucus after all.
While Mitchell deserves due process when it comes to the legal process, there’s precedent by Minnesota Democrats kicking a member out of their caucus and calling for resignation. In 2021, before any criminal convictions, Democrats kicked out a black member of their House caucus and Democrat leaders all the way up to Governor Tim Walz called for his public resignation. There have been no calls for Sen Nicole Mitchell to resign by Democrats in Minnesota.
