Ethics complaints filed against three Minnesota House members
ST. PAUL (KVRR/FOX9) — Minnesota House DFL members have filed ethics complaints against Republican Reps. Elliott Engen and Walter Hudson after Engen’s drunk driving arrest last month.
Hudson was a passenger in the vehicle.
DFL Rep. Sam Sencer-Mura and House DFL Floor Leader Jamie Long allege the men left a committee hearing on a bipartisan bill addressing student absenteeism to go drink at a bar.
Engen was stopped hours later for speeding, expired registration, and a broken headlight.
He told officers that he was “sober cabbing” for the two passengers in the vehicle.
A breath test registered a blood-alcohol content of point one three, above the legal limit for driving.
Rep. Hudson, who lives in Albertville, had his gun taken by police.
“I have never brought an ethics complaint before, I’ve never considered bringing one I haven’t seen one brought in my time here at the legislature nor have I seen actions as blatant as this where they are completely disregarding their duties as members of this body and disregarding their constituents,” said Long.
“The Democrats just a couple of years ago had two members with DUIs and they took no legislative action. Those members continued to serve on all of their committees. We take this very seriously,” said Rep. Lisa Demuth, Minnesota House Speaker.
Both Engen and Hudson have been stripped of their committee posts by Speaker Demuth, a move she says she made based off of the police reports.
Engen, who lives in White Bear Township, is running for the GOP nomination for state auditor.
An ethics complaint has also been filed against DFL Rep. Alex Falconer of Eden Prairie.
GOP members accuse him of lobbying from a legislative office.
Falconer was a registered lobbyist for Save the Boundary Waters until about a month before joining the legislature in 2025.
He is still a senior advisor for a wilderness advocacy group.
Both complaints will be heard by the House ethics committee before the end of the session.
