Rumors of Scandal Swirl around Koch Resignation

Could a scandal be at the heart of Sen. Amy Koch's (R-Buffalo) sudden drop from a prestigious post in the Minnesota Legislature? 

WCCO-TV of Minneapolis is reporting the six-year senator, who represents St. Michael, Albertville and most of Wright County, is stepping down after she was confronted by fellow senate leaders about an inappropriate relationship with a staffer. 

The television report did not name its sources, nor did it name the staffer with whom Koch had the alleged relationship. Pat Kessler, a respected capitol reporter with WCCO for many years, filed the report. 

The Star Tribune wrote that Sen. Geoff Michel (R-Edina) was one of the GOP senators approached by staffers about the relationship. 

In a rare interview Thursday (St. Michael Patch did reach out to Koch, but texts were not returned as of Friday) with KARE 11, Koch said she is hoping the step away fromt the political arena will help her spend more time with her mother, who is battling cancer, and with her teenage daughter. She met her husband, Chris, while in the United States Air Force.

Koch and her family, including her parents, reside in the Buffalo area and own a small business. Chris and Amy Koch began running the business about two years ago, she told St. Michael Patch last January.  

Koch told a St. Michael-Albertville government class recently that she "loved politics," and didn't hold office until she was encouraged by local GOP members to run for the open District 19 seat back in 2005. She was re-elected in 2006, and again in 2010.

"I've gotten pretty good at campaigning, but at the state level, you can do it at a budget. Last time I don't know if I spent more than $2,000," she told the class. "So if you want to get involved, it's not that it has to be that expensive." 

She would have had to run in 2012 because of statewide redistricting, which is currently being argued in state supreme court.