DFL leaders call for GOP Rep. Jeff Dotseth to end re-election campaign after abuse allegations surface

Top Minnesota Democrats called for GOP state Rep. Jeff Dotseth to end his re-election campaign on Tuesday in response to a Minnesota Star Tribune report that detailed past allegations of domestic abuse.

They also called on House Minority Leader Lisa Demuth, R-Cold Spring, to expel Dotseth from the House GOP Caucus.

Dotseth, a first-term lawmaker from Kettle River, was arrested in 2008 after his then-wife called police to report he’d assaulted her, according to court documents first reported by the Minnesota Star Tribune on Monday. He was initially charged with misdemeanor domestic assault but pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of disorderly conduct several months later. A judge granted a yearlong order for protection barring Dotseth from contacting his then-wife and using or possessing firearms, and he was only allowed to have supervised visits with the 9-year-old daughter the couple shared.

“What we’ve learned about Rep. Dotseth’s past is beyond concerning,” House Majority Leader Jamie Long, DFL-Minneapolis, said at a news conference at the State Capitol. “Dotseth’s behavior, whether it was yesterday or years ago, is unacceptable and not fitting for an elected representative of our state.”

After Dotseth’s arrest, his wife at the time, Penny Dotseth, filed a sworn affidavit along with her petition for divorce alleging Dotseth abused her repeatedly over the course of a decade of living together. Her adult son also filed an affidavit alleging Dotseth abused him when he was a child. They both said Dotseth punched, kicked, slapped and choked them over the years.

Dotseth denied the abuse allegations in his own 2008 divorce affidavit and again in a statement to the Minnesota Star Tribune last week: “More than 15 years ago I went through an extremely difficult divorce and child custody dispute. There were hurtful allegations made against me that I deny, including a sworn affidavit I filed under oath under penalty of perjury,” he said in the statement.

Dotseth didn’t respond to a request for comment Tuesday.

Demuth, who leads the House GOP Caucus, said in a statement last week that “domestic violence is an absolute red line for me — it’s never acceptable under any circumstances.” But, she said, “this case was resolved through the legal process more than 15 years ago, concluding with no charge or conviction for domestic assault.”

“I spoke with Rep. Dotseth … and he reiterated the contents of what was in his affidavit denying the allegations that were made during the divorce proceedings,” said Demuth, who did not comment further on Tuesday.

A House GOP spokeswoman said Tuesday that Demuth wasn’t aware of Dotseth’s domestic assault arrest until the Minnesota Star Tribune story.

Dotseth’s state House district includes cities such as Barnum and Moose Lake and stretches north to Cloquet. He won his seat by fewer than 500 votes two years ago and is facing a rematch against attorney Pete Radosevich.

At the news conference, Long and Minnesota DFL chair Ken Martin both noted that House Democrats expelled a member from their caucus in 2021 who had been accused of domestic abuse.

That member was former DFL state Rep. John Thompson, who faced several domestic violence accusations dating as far back as 2003. Thompson pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of disorderly conduct in a case where he allegedly hit his girlfriend in the face in a supermarket parking lot.

Members of both parties called for Thompson’s resignation from the Legislature in 2021, but he refused. House Democrats expelled him from their caucus two months after the domestic violence allegations first surfaced. Thompson was ultimately defeated in a primary election.

“For House Republican leadership to stand by Rep. Dotseth would be the height of hypocrisy,” Martin said.

Martin also blasted Dotseth for voting against Minnesota’s red-flag gun law, which allows family members, partners and law enforcement to petition a judge to temporarily remove guns from someone they fear is dangerous.

“He didn’t actually tell the folks in the Legislature or the public that he had his own gun rights taken away because of his arrest,” Martin said.