Mendota Heights Resident, Ex-White House Chief Running For Senate

MENDOTA HEIGHTS, MN —Richard Painter was the chief White House ethics lawyer in the George Bush administration from 2005 to 2007. Now, the Mendota Heights resident is running for the United States Senate in Minnesota.

Painter — who currently teaches corporate law at the University of Minnesota — announced his run Monday. To some surprise, Painter has decided to run as a Democrat, Federal Election Commission filings show.

Painter will challenge Democrat Tina Smith, who was appointed to replace Al Franken in the Senate earlier this year.

Despite his Republican background, Painter is a well known critic of President Donald Trump. He is a frequent contributor on CNN, MSNBC, and FOX News.

"I think he picked the wrong country to be president of if he thinks he has absolute power to run the Justice Department however he wants," Painter said of Trump on CNN in December.

"That may be the way it works in Putin’s Russia and other places. That’s not the way it works here."

Also in 2017, Painter accused Kellyanne Conway of violating the Hatch Act by using her position to take sides in a partisan election. "That is a firing offense. And for her this is strike two," Painter wrote on Twitter.

Painter's U.S. Senate campaign will apparently focus in part on opposing Trump as well as ending "the corrupting influence of money in our political system."

"Donald Trump is a threat to our Republic," reads his campaign website.

"There can be no hesitation among our elected officials in Washington to vocally oppose the ongoing constitutional violations by his administration. The Mueller investigation of Russian interference with the election must be allowed to reach its natural end without interference from the executive branch."

Painter and his wife Karen live with their three children in Mendota Heights.

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