Jerald Loud, Minnesota House candidate, disowned by two of three daughters

Jerald Loud, a DFL House candidate in northern Minnesota, boasts on his campaign website that he has three adult daughters, but two of them say they have disowned him, and he has no contact with the third.

"He is not a father or a family man, and we are not his daughters," said Emily Metzger, who said Loud abandoned her when she was 10 after a 2004 divorce, Loud's second.

Metzger's sister Natasha Laumei said she changed her name to disassociate herself from Loud. "I want nothing to do with him, and I don't want him to have any kind of claim on me," she said.

Loud's campaign is already being hit by Republican attacks stemming from a Star Tribune story that cited a ruling in a divorce more than 30 years ago in which the judge found that Loud had "battered" his ex-wife.

House DFL Minority Leader Paul Thissen released a statement condemning domestic abuse and adding: "The House DFL Caucus has not spent resources in this race, and we have no plans to do so."

The race is a political headache for the DFL, which is fighting hard to win seven House seats for majority status.

Loud, a 10-year Navy veteran from Puposky, Minn., who runs a program for needy families for the Red Lake Nation, is competing for an open seat now held by a Republican.

His daughters Metzger and Laumei contacted the Star Tribune, saying they were alarmed by Loud's candidacy and resentful they are cited — even incidentally — in his campaign materials.

Loud responded with this statement: "Divorces are emotionally painful for all involved, especially the children. I take full responsibility for my actions or inaction in how I handled our relationship following the divorce.

"If there is anything I could do over, that would be one of them," he said. "I wish my daughters the very best. My phone has always been available, and my heart will always be open."

Annette Bellino, Loud's first wife, said his abuse sent her to the emergency room several times. Bellino said Loud has no contact with their daughter or five grandchildren.

Laumei said there were scattered incidents of "yanking, grabbing, pushing" during her teenage years but classified most of the trouble with Loud as emotional abuse. She could not recall the police being called, but she said she faced many incidents of threatening, demeaning and bullying behavior from Loud.

She said her passion to become a trauma counselor in the Pacific Northwest likely originated from her difficult childhood.

Asked why she came forward, Laumei said, "I kept an eye out, making sure he wasn't trying to get to a bigger position in the community, because if and when that happened, I wanted to speak out."

J. Patrick Coolican • 651-925-5042