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STATEMENT REGARDING ETHICS INVESTIGATION OF REP. KURT DAUDT

Thursday, March 12, 2020

St. Paul – Today, Representative Steve Drazkowski and Representative Tim Miller made the following statement:

“Leadership matters. Over a year ago, we formed the New House Republican Caucus because Rep. Kurt Daudt had a long history of failed, dishonest, and unethical leadership. Rep. Daudt’s recent acceptance of a high-powered job with a multinational corporate lobbying firm, while continuing to serve and vote in the Minnesota House of Representatives, demonstrates a total lack of ethical behavior. 

Rep. Daudt is a lobbyist for Stateside Associates. This firm represents many corporate interests involved in all sectors of our economy. As a result, Rep. Daudt is inevitably casting votes on behalf of his influential clients. In Minnesota, legislators are barred from received lobbyist gifts worth over $5. However, Rep. Daudt is unabashedly taking what is likely a very substantial salary from Stateside Associates. 

Furthermore, our offices are now getting calls from lobbyists with Washington D.C.-based Stateside Associates. In all our years of serving in the Minnesota Legislature, we have never once received a call from a Stateside Associates lobbyist until Rep. Daudt started working for them. Rep. Daudt is trying his hardest to pump swamp water from Washington D.C. directly into Minnesota. This must stop.

We believe that Rep. Daudt has most assuredly betrayed the public trust and has brought dishonor and disrepute upon the Minnesota House of Representatives. As such, we have sent a letter to the Speaker of the House requesting a full ethics investigation into Rep. Daudt’s deliberately exercised ethical conflict. An ethics investigation is a commonsense measure to ensure the integrity of our government.  

The people of Minnesota deserve competent leaders. These individuals must be independent, acting in the best interest of the people, and ethical. 

In addition to standing up for true conservative values, we formed the New House Republican Caucus to reintroduce honesty and transparency into the Minnesota Legislature. All legislators, regardless of political allegiance, must be held to the high ethical standards that the public expects from its leaders.” 

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