Democrats Call On Republican Legislator To Step Down From Committee Chairmanship

It’s not often I find myself in agreement with Democrats, but in their call for troubled state Rep. RaeAnn Kelsch to step down from her committee chairmanship in the legislature they’re right.

BISMARCK (AP) — The North Dakota House’s Democratic leader says Mandan Republican Rep. RaeAnn Kelsch should resign as chairwoman of the House Education Committee.

The state Tax Department recently filed a $304,000 lien against Kelsch because she didn’t file state tax returns going back to 2004.

Kelsch says she’s working to resolve the problem. She says she wasn’t aware the tax returns hadn’t been filed because her husband handled the family finances.

House Democratic leader Jerry Kelsh says RaeAnn Kelsch’s income tax problem is a breach of ethics.

He says RaeAnn Kelsch should also resign any leadership positions she has outside the state that are related to her job as a North Dakota lawmaker.

Remember it’s not just Kelsch’s hundreds of thousands of dollars in unpaid income taxes. Earlier this year SAB broke the news that Kelsch had tens of thousands of dollars in unpaid property taxes too (though Rep. Kelsch and her husband paid off those taxes after the story was broken).

Clearly, Kelsch and her family are having some major issues, and it’s hard to imagine how she can be an effective elected leader for the state while going through those issues.

Whether or not Kelsch continues to serve in her district is between her and the voters of that district (Kelsch is up for re-election this year, and her last word on the subject is that she’s running), but certainly a tax evader has no business representing the state in any sort of a leadership position.

I’m always amazed at politicians who cling to their offices of power even in disgrace. Were I caught in an embarrassing situation like this, I would be scrambling to get out of the public’s eye. That Rep. Kelsch is seemingly intent on staying in office even despite such a grievous level of personal problems tells me she’s exactly the sort of person North Dakotans shouldn’t want in office.