Sitting GOP Minnesota state representative was arrested in 2008 on domestic violence charges

Plus, the first documented fatality of the post-Roe era. 

Court records unearthed by the Minnesota Star Tribune revealed that Jeff Dotseth, a Republican member of the Minnesota House of Representatives, was arrested after his ex-wife filed a police report claiming he had assaulted her.

“There were hurtful allegations made against me that I deny, including a sworn affidavit I filed under oath under penalty of perjury,” Dotseth, who is up for reelection, said Monday in response. “Ultimately the charge was dismissed and I pled guilty to disorderly conduct. I now have a cordial relationship with my ex-wife, and have worked to put this difficult chapter of my life behind me.”

Following his arrest, a judge ordered Dotseth to cease contact with then-spouse Penny Kowal, and the judge forbade him from purchasing or using a gun and only permitted to see his daughter under supervision. Dotseth was then charged with domestic assault but pleaded down to a charge of disorderly conduct.

Dotseth ultimately did not serve any jail time but was forced to complete a “compassion workshop” by the court.

In an affidavit, Kowal described the 2008 assault as just one incident in a decade-long abusive relationship. She spoke about being kicked, slammed, slapped and choked by Dotseth on multiple occasions. She also referred to an incident wherein Dotseth physically abused their dog.

“Jeff claims to be a non-violent person. This is most definitely not true,” Kowal said in a court document that accompanied her divorce petition.

Kowal’s son, who wished to remain anonymous, echoed similar experiences.

“I have been punched, slapped, choked, thrown, hit with things, and kicked by [Dotseth],” Kowal’s son said in his affidavit. “After his violent outbursts we would always go back to living life, forgive and move on. It was never long before he would find something to get mad about.”

Kowal added that Dotseth “would say things like, if slavery was still around today, he would have slaves.”

Members of the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party have called on Dotseth to cease his campaign and resign.

“Rep. Dotseth isn't fit to work at an animal shelter or to serve on a school board, much less to run for reelection as a state legislator,” DFL Chair Ken Martin said in a statement. “It is completely despicable for any human being to say that they would own slaves if it were still legal. How can Minnesota Republicans stand by a candidate who has been arrested and subjected to an order for protection for engaging in domestic violence, engaged in animal abuse, and said that he would own slaves if it were still legal today?”

According to a new investigation by ProPublica, the overturning of Roe v. Wade — and the corresponding abortion bans that occurred following its demise — has its first official casualty: Amber Thurman, a 28-year-old medical assistant from Georgia. 

Thurman, a single mother, discovered in 2022 that she was pregnant with twins at six weeks, and under Georgia’s new post-Roe law could not receive an abortion. Thurman and a friend then drove to North Carolina so she could receive a surgical abortion, but traffic prevented them from making the appointment. Medical professionals instead prescribed a medicated abortion. 

But the mifepristone and misoprostol that Thurman took caused an exceptionally rare complication wherein her body failed to excise fetal tissue, causing a septic infection. Typically, a standard and uncomplicated procedure called dilation and curettage is performed. But because Georgia had recently made the procedure illegal, save for select exceptions, doctors at the hospital Thurman was rushed to were reluctant to perform it. 

When the surgery was finally conducted some 20 hours after Thurman’s arrival, it was too late. 

“Tasked with examining pregnancy-related deaths to improve maternal health, [Georgia health] experts, including 10 doctors, deemed hers ‘preventable’ and said the hospital’s delay in performing the critical procedure had a “large” impact on her fatal outcome,” ProPublica’s Kavitha Surana explained in her reporting. 

“Their reviews of individual patient cases are not made public. But ProPublica obtained reports that confirm that at least two women have already died after they couldn’t access legal abortions and timely medical care in their state … There are almost certainly others.”

Wisconsin Rep. Bob Donovan faces uphill reelection battle as his long anti-abortion record comes into focus

By Richard Eberwein 

Wisconsin state Rep. Bob Donovan (R-Greenfield) will defend his Assembly seat in a newly drawn tossup district (61st) as he defends an extensive anti-abortion record.

Despite polling suggesting that the majority of Wisconsinites support abortion being legal in all or most cases, Donovan and his fellow Republicans in the Wisconsin state legislature have repeatedly worked to undermine reproductive rights for years. During his reelection campaign in 2022, Donovan advocated for the enforcement of Wisconsin’s stringent 1849 abortion ban on his campaign website, which went into effect after Roe v. Wade was overturned by the Supreme Court of the United States.

“I am pro-life and will support policies that advocate for the life of our precious unborn,” Donovan’s website said as of Aug. 11, 2022. “We must end the practice of selling fetal body parts and enforce Wisconsin’s abortion ban if Roe vs Wade is overturned.”

The issues section, including the anti-abortion rhetoric, was later scrubbed from Donovan’s website.

Although procedures in Wisconsin ceased for a 15-month period, abortive health care eventually resumed in Wisconsin (up to 20 weeks) after a Dane County judge ruled that the 1849 law did not apply to abortions.

In January, Donovan introduced Assembly Bill 975, a piece of legislation that would put a 14-week abortion ban in front of voters in a statewide referendum. At the time, Donovan asserted his support on the basis that he is Catholic.

“I struggled with this legislation here before us today, but I am supporting it because I believe, if enacted, it will help reduce the loss of life,” Donovan said. “I am pro-life, and I am Catholic, and I believe that abortion is the taking of a human being.”

The bill passed the Republican-controlled Assembly by a 53-46 vote, but it failed in the Senate on April 15. Had it passed in the Senate, AB 975 would have likely been vetoed by Gov. Tony Evers (D).

While debating the bill, Donovan’s colleague Rep. Joel Kitchens (R-Sturgeon Bay) said that abortion was not health care and claimed to be a foremost expert on the topic because he was a veterinarian.

“I think I know mammalian fetal development better than anyone here,” Kitchens said on the Assembly floor in January

In 2022, Donovan also accepted an endorsement from Wisconsin Right To Life (WRTL), a group that does not support exceptions for rape or incest exceptions for abortion bans. Both Donovan and Kitchens participated in a survey conducted by WRTL, where they indicated support for controversial crisis pregnancy centers and for “protecting all preborn children from abortion.”

Donovan currently represents the 84th Assembly District but will be seeking the 61st Assembly seat this November after new legislative maps were put in place earlier this year. Donovan will be facing his former Democratic opponent LuAnn Bird, who fell short of defeating Donovan in 2022 by just 526 votes. In addition to facing a tough opponent, Donovan is now running in a district that is projected to be much more competitive, and it is listed as a toss-up by Wisconsin Watch.