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.