Supreme Court Removes Gauthier from Ballot
Posted at: 09/25/2012 4:09 PM
| Updated at: 09/26/2012 2:17 PM
Minnesota Democrats have gotten a lifeline in their efforts to hang on to a Duluth legislative seat after a disgraced Democratic lawmaker quit his re-election bid.
The Minnesota Supreme Court on Tuesday granted the party's request to have Rep. Kerry Gauthier's name scrubbed from the ballot. He dropped out of a re-election race for a Duluth seat after having a sexual encounter with a 17-year-old boy.
The ruling is a boost to Democrats, who feared they would have to resort to a write-in effort to preserve a reliable seat. Democrats can ill-afford to lose a safe seat in their bid to retake the Minnesota House majority.
Gauthier will be replaced by Erik Simonson, a Duluth assistant fire chief. He faces Republican Travis Silvers.
Duluth City Councilor Jay Fosle's name will not be on the ballot, but he is running a write-in campaign. Tuesday he was disappointed to hear the news, "This was expected but unfortunate. I'm going to continue with my campaign and put my best foot forward and hope that the citizens write me in for 7B."
The office of the Secretary of State said they're ready to support St. Louis County as they implement this court order. The election is now just over a month away.
(Copyright 2012 WDIO-TV, LLC. All Rights Reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
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