Senator Nicole Mitchell has resigned her seat in the Minnesota Senate effective this Friday according to an email sent to her Woodbury constituents.
The move follows her conviction on felony burglary charges last week.
Mitchell's attorney had initially said she would take up to August 4 to resign in order to help her staff find new jobs and get health insurance for her son.
Now, Mitchell is saying those "tasks" were completed early.
Mitchell's resignation clears the way for Governor Tim Walz to call a special election for her Senate seat.
Two DFL state representatives from the area have already announced they intend to run.
Walz told reporters Monday he plans to call a special election to fill Mitchell's seat “as soon as time permits.” He said his goal would be to give candidates time to organize their campaigns and then fill the empty seat before the Legislature reconvenes for its regular session in February. He said the likelihood now appears “relatively slim” that he'll need to call a special session this fall to plug any holes in the state budget resulting from President Donald Trump's federal budget bill.
Senate Republican Leader Mark Johnson (East Grand Forks) released a statement Monday pushing for Mitchell to resign immediately instead of waiting two weeks.
“Senator Mitchell was convicted of two felonies; she doesn’t get to give the Senate two weeks’ notice,” he wrote in a statement Monday. “The only reason Mitchell is still in office is because Democrats needed her vote to pass their agenda and refused to hold her accountable during session.”
Mitchell was arrested on April 22, 2024, and told police that she broke into her stepmother's home because the stepmother refused to give her items like her late father's ashes and other belongings. Mitchell's father and stepmother Carol Mitchell had been married for 40 years.
Later on the stand, the lawmaker backtracked her statement and said she had not intended to take anything and wanted to check on the well-being of her stepmother, who has Alzheimer's disease.