Attorney Michelle MacDonald, the GOP's endorsed candidate for the Minnesota Supreme Court, was arrested on suspicion of drunken driving and resisting arrest last year, and her case will head to trial this fall, during the general election.
State Republican Party Chairman Keith Downey on Thursday said he was unaware of MacDonald's 2013 arrest until notified by a Star Tribune reporter. The revelation comes less than two weeks after party delegates in Rochester endorsed MacDonald to run against Justice David Lillehaug.
"None of us, including the convention delegates, were aware of this information about the candidate," Downey said. "She, of course, is innocent until proven guilty, but at the same time, the delegates did not have the full disclosure they should have."
He declined to comment on whether the party would withdraw its endorsement. MacDonald, 52, who practices family law, maintains that she was not drinking the night she was pulled over by Rosemount police and is taking the case to trial.
A police report said she refused a field sobriety test and did not take other tests that could have determined her blood-alcohol level.
MacDonald said the GOP's Judicial Election Committee was aware of the pending case against her. She said that when she told her side of the story, she received near-unanimous support. She has no criminal record in Minnesota.
Downey said that the committee's nomination of MacDonald came forward "at the last minute" and that in hindsight, the party should have done things differently.
According to court documents, Rosemount police stopped MacDonald, identified in court documents as Michelle L MacDonald Shimota, for speeding at 11:18 p.m. April 5, 2013. The officer testified later that he detected "a slight odor" of alcohol coming from the vehicle and asked her to step out for field sobriety tests. Charges say MacDonald repeatedly refused, saying she hadn't been drinking, was a "reserve cop" and a lawyer and would walk home. After several minutes, police placed MacDonald under arrest and she "began to physically resist the officers' attempt to remove her from the vehicle and place her under arrest."