Pequot Lakes police chief says Rep. Josh Heintzeman pressured him for support

Pequot Lakes Police Chief Mike Davis said that Rep. Josh Heintzeman, a Republican from Nisswa, pressured him for support after the chief signed a petition for a third-party candidate seeking to challenge Heintzeman.

Heintzeman is running for a sixth term against DFLer Emily LeClaire and independent candidate Troy Scheffler, a rival fellow conservative who has sued Heintzeman for defamation and filed other campaign complaints against him. Earlier this year, Davis signed Scheffler’s successful petition to get on the ballot in House District 6B, which covers parts of Crow Wing County.

Last week, Scheffler filed a new complaint with the Office of Administrative Hearings accusing Heintzeman of violating the Fair Campaign Practices Act during the interaction with Davis. The office will consider arguments from the candidates in a probable cause hearing Oct. 15.

Davis said he signed the petition while off-duty and has not endorsed any candidate publicly. He said he never used his position as chief to support Scheffler or oppose Heintzeman’s campaign. But, he said, he subsequently got a call from Heintzeman.

During the call, the complaint alleges, Heintzeman first tried to get Davis to claim his signature was a joke. He then “began to try shaming Davis into withdrawing support for (Scheffler),” urging Davis to support him instead and suggesting support for Scheffler “would risk the Democrat being elected.” Davis submitted a sworn affidavit with Scheffler’s complaint calling it “true and correct.”

In the affidavit, and in an interview Friday, Davis said he believes Heintzeman’s actions were intended to cause him distress and intimidate him in retaliation for supporting Scheffler as a candidate for the American’s First Party. Heintzeman also called Pequot Lakes Mayor Tyler Gardner and the Minnesota Chiefs of Police Association, which Davis said he believes was intended to place his employment at risk.

Heintzeman denied that the calls were in an effort to gain Davis’ support.

Heintzeman said Scheffler is running a “campaign by lawsuit.” In addition to the pending defamation suit against Heintzeman, he recently filed a complaint with the Campaign Finance Board accusing Heintzeman of not having “prepared and paid for” disclaimers prominently displayed on some signage.

“It has been just one complaint to the court or to the Office of Administrative Hearings after another without any actual campaigning,” Heintzeman said, calling the complaint filed with the office “very disingenuous and absolutely false.”

Heintzeman said part of his call to Davis was in regards to the Police Department trying to serve Heintzeman civil paperwork outside the jurisdiction of Pequot Lakes. The lawsuit was filed on behalf of Matthew Zinda, who ran against Heintzeman in the August primary. Heintzeman won in a landslide.

Jeff Potts, the executive director of the police chiefs association, said in an interview that chiefs and the association strive to be apolitical.

“Honestly, it felt like [Heintzeman] was trying to bring me into it, but I don’t live up there, so I don’t know the situation,” Potts said. “There was no real role for me to play there, other than to encourage him and then encourage the chief for those two to have a conversation.”

At the administrative office hearing, a judge can dismiss Scheffler’s complaint if it is found to be frivolous or refer the case to a chief administrative law judge if it is determined that probable cause exists to believe Heintzeman violated fair campaign practices.

Scheffler denied Heintzeman’s accusation that he’s working in tandem with Zinda to get Heintzeman out of office. But, he said, he cares more about getting Heintzeman out of office than winning in November.

“The Republican Party would be far better off with him losing this round and having a Democrat in for two years,” Scheffler said.

The 6B District includes the cities of Baxter, Breezy Point, Jenkins, Nisswa, Pequot Lakes and all but one precinct in Brainerd. That one precinct is included in District 6A, which is represented by Davis’ brother, Rep. Ben Davis, R-Merrifield, who is seeking a second term this election.

Chief Davis said he doesn’t like being caught in the middle of a political dispute. His intention in signing the petition in June wasn’t about endorsing any candidate, he said.

“People are tired of the two-party system,” Davis said. “Why not give a third option?”