Rep. Erik Paulsen (R-MN-03) recently revealed that his wife was threatened at their Minnesota home last week, saying the political animosity towards him and his family has been taken to the “next level.”
While the Minnesota congressman is used to receiving threats, he said his office has “had to refer more cases to law enforcement” in the last two years than his entire time in office combined.
“I would say it’s been taken to a new level,” he told WCCO radio. “What happened last week in particular was especially troubling because it’s the first time it happened in my home, where a phone call came in to my house and my wife got the call, and it was someone who made a threat. I won’t get into the particular threat, but it was a pretty dramatic and aggressive threat.”
Paulsen said his political opponents have now put his wife “in a situation where she’s fearful for herself” and their children. He reported the incident to the Capitol Police and local law enforcement, but said that nobody should “have to worry about that sort of thing.”
Paulsen’s opponent, Democrat Dean Phillips denounced the incident in a statement to WCCO, saying he entered the campaign to put an end to the divisiveness in politics.
The incident comes just days after a Democratic staffer was arrested on Capitol Hill for doxing several U.S. Senators, whose home addresses and phone numbers were released to the public with the intent of inciting harassment.
In Minnesota, a Democratic-Farmer-Labor (DFL) Party tracker entered the home of Republican lieutenant governor candidate Donna Bergrstrom after lying to her husband about needing to use a phone.
“It’s ridiculous enough that candidates and their families are being chased out of restaurants and harassed in public by the left,” Republican Jeff Johnson said in response. “To actually enter someone’s home under false pretenses is a new low. If I learned of this type of behavior against my opponent, I wouldn’t stand for it.”
As a result of the recent uproar from the left, the Democrats have all but lost their edge heading into the midterms. According to a recent NPR/PBS Newshour/Marist poll, 82 percent of Democrats rate the November elections as “very important,” compared to 80 percent of Republicans. The now two-point edge for Democrats was as big as ten points in July.
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Anthony Gockowski is managing editor of The Minnesota Sun. Follow Anthony on Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
