MNGOP questions Melin’s residency
The Minnesota Republican Party is questioning the residency of Democrat Carly Melin. Melin won the DFL Primary last night in a special election in House District 5B. The Hibbing native defeated four others to win the primary.
But Republican Party Deputy Chair Michael Brodkorb said in a news release that Melin isn't meeting the residency requirements to be a candidate.
"Is DFL candidate Carly Melin trying to pull a fast one on the voters of House District 5B? While Melin now claims she lives with her parents, state records show she may have a serious residency problem. According to state law, 'Candidates for the legislature must meet legislative residency requirements when elected. This means that at the time of the general election, a candidate for the legislature must have resided in the state for one year and must have resided in the legislative district for six months," the news release said.
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House Disrict 5B is a DFL stronghold that includes Chiholm, Hibbing and on the Iron Range. The seat was vacated when Governor Dayton appointed Tony Sertich as head of Iron Range Resources. Melin will face Independence Party candidate Cynthia Kafut-Hagen and Republican candidate Paul Jacobson in the Feb. 15 special election.
For her part, Melin said she voted in the August 10th primary but says "I absolutely meet the residency requirements." She said she was late for a meeting but would call back to offer a more detailed explanation later.
I'll update this post after that conversation occurs.
Melin says she did vote in the August 10th primary. She said she lived in St. Paul over the summer when she was studying for the bar exam. Melin says she was offered her current job as a judicial law clerk for the State Judiciary on the Iron Range on August 9th. She said she moved back to Hibbing on August 11th.
"Republicans don't have any issues to run on," Melin said. "They're not the party that's going to best represent District 5B so they're making attacks on something that's not even an issue. I'm a resident of Hibbing and have been since August 11th."