GOP Minnesota Supreme Court hopeful faces DWI case

Published 9:58 am Friday, June 13, 2014

MINNEAPOLIS — Leaders of the Minnesota Republican Party did not know the party’s endorsed candidate for state Supreme Court was arrested last year on suspicion of drunken driving and resisting arrest, the Star Tribune reported Thursday.

Attorney Michelle MacDonald’s case will head to trial this fall during the general election.

Republican State Party Chairman Keith Downey told the Star Tribune (http://strib.mn/1udkIbWhttp://strib.mn/1udkIbW ) on Thursday he was unaware of MacDonald’s 2013 arrest until being notified by a reporter for the newspaper. The revelation comes less than two weeks after state party delegates in Rochester endorsed MacDonald to run against Justice David Lillehaug.

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“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.”

Downey would not say whether the party would ask MacDonald to withdraw from the race.