Wright County Republicans pulled their support from candidate Dick Borrell of Waverly asking him to withdraw from the race for District 19B following publication of an Oct. 5 Star Tribune article about sexual misconduct by Borrell 15 years ago.
The article details an incident in 1987, in which Borrell admitted to tricking a woman into a sexual act by trespassing into her apartment bedroom in the early morning hours following a night of heavy drinking, according to court documents.
The woman, who was in her 20s and was engaged to a relative of Borrell's, said she thought Borrell was her fiance. Borrell was 35 at the time of the incident. He is 50 now.
The woman sought counseling and filed suit in 1993. Borrell paid her $20,000 in a settlement for "negligent infliction of emotional distress."
"I have admitted to this error," Borrell said of the incident.
"I have done everything in my power to make up for this, including paying the settlement," Borrell said.
"I have learned from this experience and moved on. It is no longer part of my life," he said.
The state Republican party supports Borrell. "I think it's over and done with," commented Bill Walsh, deputy executive director of the state Republican Party.
However, local Republicans reacted by asking Borrell to drop out of the race entirely, and pulling their support.
The Wright County Republicans, chaired by Randy Heuer of Howard Lake, distributed a release that indicated Borrell did not inform them about the indiscretion before they chose him.
"As a local political unit, we believe it is imperative to maintain a high standard of integrity among candidates offered to the public," according to a release by the Wright County Republicans.
"We have a search process . . . and request disclosure of any past incidents that may emerge during a campaign. To our dismay, the incidents recorded in Saturday's Star Tribune were not disclosed during the search committee interview."
"At stake is the integrity of our local organization and public trust in the grassroots process," according to the Republican release. "Due to these considerations . . . the leadership team is withdrawing its support. We have also requested that Borrell withdraw from the race in District 19B."
A Dump Bachmann tipster reminds us that Borrell preceded Emmer in that House district and that now, Emmer is paying Borrell to fly him around the state. On 6.16.10, Emmer's campaign paid Borrell $294.36 for airfare:
Also, Borrell claims to run an "air musuem." Is this really just a scam to shelter all his airplane hobby expenses?
Borrell was one of the original co-sponsors of the Bachmann amendment in the house. He was also one of the original co-sponsors of Arlon Lindner's bill to remove the references to gays from the human rights statutes.
What does Michele Bachmann think about Dick Borrell's family values?
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