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 with 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.