Minnesota state Senator Amy Koch on Thursday resigned from her post as Senate majority leader over allegations she was involved in an “inappropriate relationship,” Fox affiliate Fox 9 reported.
Koch announced she was stepping down from her leadership position and would not seek re-election in 2012 after four fellow Republicans – David Hann, Geoff Michel, Chris Gerlach and Claire Roblingg – confronted her will rumors of an “inappropriate relationship” between herself and an unnamed male Senate staffer.
Reports indicate that Koch neither confirmed nor denied the allegations.
Koch, who along with her husband Christopher are raising one child, said she was resigning because she wanted to spend more time her family.
Earlier this year, Koch voted in favor of advancing a constitutional amendment that would ban gay marriage in the state. Voters will decide on the measure in November.
Former state Senator Paul Koering, who is openly gay, told MinnPost.com that the allegations were another example of the GOP's hypocrisy on moral values.
“I guess this [the Koch situation] shows what goes around comes around. If you're going to have a party that believes it's made up of people of the purest standards, you're going to have a very small party. The fact is we're all human and we all make human decisions.”
Koering came out gay in 2005 after breaking rank with Republicans over a proposed gay marriage ban sponsored by Congresswoman Michele Bachmann, a former member of the Minnesota Senate. He lost the endorsement of the Republican Party in 2010 after he acknowledged going out on a date with gay porn actor Brandon Wilde.
“I couldn't pass the party's purity test,” Koering, who is now an independent, added.
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