The Senator Goes on Trial
17th July 2025
John Hinderaker at Power Line.
Like the Balkans, Minnesota produces more news than can be consumed locally. One of our state’s recent scandals is the arrest for burglary of State Senator Nicole Mitchell. Mitchell was caught red-handed, burglarizing her stepmother’s house at 4:30 in the morning. The crime occurred during the 2024 legislative session, and the Democrats had a 34-33 majority in the Senate and thus needed her vote. The Senate voted on whether she would be able to vote for the remainder of the session, and Mitchell cast the deciding vote in her own favor.
When the 2024 session was over, Minnesota Democrats, including Tim Walz and now-DNC Chairman Ken Martin, belatedly demanded that Mitchell resign. But she hung tough. Her case was scheduled for trial, but the trial was continued so that she could participate in the 2025 session. Which she did, again representing the decisive vote in a chamber that was divided 44-43. Once the session began, not a single Democrat suggested that she ought to resign. Not a single reporter asked any Democrat why he had changed his tune.
This is the kind of soft corruption that permeates Minnesota politics.