In a statement announcing Eichorn’s arrest Tuesday, Bloomington Police Chief Booker Hodges called for stiffer penalties for offenses like the accusation against the state senator.
“We need our state legislature to take this case and this type of conduct more seriously,” Booker said. Walz said Wednesday that he agreed.
“This is where the trafficking issue comes in,” Walz said. “This is where we’re preying on children. This is a very serious crime.”
House Republican leadership and the Minnesota DFL Party also called for his resignation. Senate Majority Leader Erin Murphy, DFL-St. Paul, stopped short of calling for Eichorn’s resignation on Tuesday, saying “the felony allegation against Senator Eichorn is deeply disturbing, and raises serious questions that will need to be answered by the court, as well as his caucus and constituents.”
Murphy appeared to be following the same precedent she’s applied to the case of Mitchell. Murphy and other Senate DFLers have argued that Mitchell deserves due process with her criminal trial still pending, while Republicans have called for her to be expelled from the chamber.
But other rank-and-file Democrats said Wednesday that he should resign, including Sen. Erin Maye Quade, DFL-Apple Valley, who said she’s never called for another member to step down until now.