Minnesota GOP legislator, auditor candidate arrested on suspicion of DWI

ST. PAUL, Minn. (Minnesota Reformer) — Minnesota Rep. Elliott Engen, R-White Bear Township, was arrested early morning Friday on suspicion of driving while impaired.

White Bear Lake Police Chief Dale Hager in a statement said that at about 1:51 a.m. Friday in White Bear Lake, officers pulled over a vehicle for traffic violations, including speeding, expired tabs and a broken headlight. White Bear officers arrested the driver, identified as Rep. Engen, for suspicion of driving while impaired.

Hager said Engen took a breath test at the White Bear Lake Police Department where he blew a .13 blood alcohol concentration. The legal limit is .08.

Engen was booked into the Ramsey County Adult Detention Center at 4:42 a.m. and released at 6:21 a.m Friday morning. The Minnesota House had a six-hour floor session on Thursday night that ended around 9:30 p.m.

Records show Engen, who is also a candidate for state auditor, has been charged with two misdemeanors: a fourth-degree DWI and a fourth-degree DUI.

Engen, in a statement, said he was “deeply sorry.”

“I strive to be a man of great character, and my actions fell short last night. I will learn from this. I will do better,” he said.

House Speaker Lisa Demuth, R-Cold Spring, released a statement to the Reformer: “I’m extremely disappointed to learn of Rep. Engen’s arrest. I will be working to gather information about the circumstances of his arrest and charges and will address this directly with Rep. Engen and consider further consequences as the legal process unfolds.”

The second-term legislator — who is among the state’s first Gen Z lawmakers — joins a growing list of Minnesota legislators arrested on suspicion of drunk driving while in office in recent years, including Sen. John Jasinski, R-Faribault; Sen. Tou Xiong DFL-Maplewood (twice); Rep. Brion Curran, DFL-White Bear Lake; and Rep. Dan Wolgamott, DFL-St. Cloud, who is a Democratic-Farmer-Labor candidate for state auditor.

Engen attended Hamline University where he also founded its chapter of Turning Point USA, the political group founded by the late Charlie Kirk.

Engen’s state auditor campaign has been laser-focused on fraud in Minnesota’s public programs, although the office oversees local government financial integrity and has no jurisdiction over state dollars.

Engen’s DUI arrest means that both a Republican and a DFL candidate for state auditor have been arrested for driving while impaired.

In 2023, Wolgamott was arrested in Kanabec County on suspicion of DWI — his blood alcohol concentration was .09 — and a few months later pleaded guilty to a DWI charge.

Back in September, Engen alluded to Wolgamott’s drunken driving charge after Wolgamott launched his auditor campaign.

“The DFL has been drunk at the wheel in protecting taxpayer dollars from systemic fraud,” Engen posted on X.

(Story written by Michelle Griffith – Minnesota Reformer)