Sen. Champion steps down as ethics committee chair amid conflict-of-interest questions
Go Deeper.
Create an account or log in to save stories.
Like this?
Thanks for liking this story! We have added it to a list of your favorite stories.
Minnesota Senate President Bobby Joe Champion will step down as head of the Subcommittee on Ethics as he faces questions about a possible conflict of interest related to his legal work and funding bills he has sponsored.
Champion, a Minneapolis DFLer, said Monday that he will ask the ethics panel to advise on whether he had a conflict of interest “out of an abundance of caution.” During that phase, he'll step aside as the committee's chair.
The move comes after the Minnesota Reformer — an online news site that operates under the umbrella of the nonprofit States Newsroom — reported last week that Champion worked with a client, the Rev. Jerry McAfee, on a pro bono basis. McAfee’s nonprofit group 21 Days of Peace later received state grant funds from an account that Champion worked to authorize.
Champion remains the chair of the Senate Jobs and Economic Development Committee, which helped craft the 2023 bill that included the grants.
Turn Up Your Support
MPR News helps you turn down the noise and build shared understanding. Turn up your support for this public resource and keep trusted journalism accessible to all.
The timing of the transaction is among the points of dispute. Champion told the Reformer that his legal work for McAfee and entities he helps run had concluded prior to the introduction of the bill to free up the grant money. On Monday, Champion presented the 2025 Jobs and Economic Development budget bill in committee. He said the allegation was an effort to “smear him.”
“I asked for an advisory opinion from our ethics committee because I’m transparent and straightforward and it was my choice and my though that we get this information before everyone because there’s no conflict from my vantage point,” Champion told the committee.
He said he had no legal ties to any group in the forthcoming jobs bill.
“I can assure you 1,000 percent that I do not represent any person that is in our bill,” Champion said. “I am not representing anyone that is on our sheet, not pro bono, not for a fee, nothing.”
The Senate Rules Committee voted Monday morning to remove Champion from the ethics subcommittee and install Sen. Sandy Pappas, DFL-St. Paul, as the ethics subcommittee chair. The ethics panel could look into the situation and provide an advisory opinion.
“I think this is a prudent move, just to make sure that any investigation in any sort of ethics complaint that may be coming through the subcommittee, this would be handled in a very professional way,” Senate Minority Leader Mark Johnson, R-East Grand Forks, said.
The Senate Rules Committee approved the change in committee leadership on a bipartisan basis.
On the Senate floor Monday morning, Republicans asked whether Champion would potentially be asked to step down from his role as jobs committee chair, or as president of the Senate.
Senate Majority Leader Erin Murphy, DFL-St. Paul, said those steps were not being considered at this time and the ethics committee assessment should move forward.
“I believe that the Subcommittee on Ethics will be convened soon, and they will deal and offer an advisory opinion, and that, I think should be the first and only step that this body takes with regard to the participation in the leadership of Sen. Champion and the roles in which he's playing,” Murphy said.
Murphy and Champion left the Senate floor as Capitol reporters asked them to comment on the situation Monday.