Bobby Joe Champion Just Gave Us a Masterclass in Political Favoritism
Minnesotans are being played. While families across the state deal with rising crime, economic instability, and a government bloated beyond recognition, Senate President Bobby Joe Champion is doing what far too many career politicians do when they think no one’s watching: he's cutting deals behind closed doors to take care of his friends. Champion didn’t just cross an ethical line. He torched it.
He pushed through millions in taxpayer dollars for a nonprofit run by Rev. Jerry McAfee, a man Champion represented in court during active mortgage default cases involving nearly half a million dollars. Yes, the same Jerry McAfee, whose nonprofit, Salem Inc., was drowning in debt. The same Jerry McAfee who would later receive a $3 million payday from the state, thanks to Champion’s legislation. And now Champion is back, asking the public for another $1 million for McAfee’s group, and he didn’t disclose their legal ties. That’s not just poor judgment. That’s a calculated abuse of public office.
Champion wants you to believe it was pro bono work, as if that’s some kind of ethical shield. It’s not. It doesn’t matter if he got paid or not. He was representing a client in court while writing laws to give that same client millions in public funds. He had a clear conflict of interest and never said a word, not in committee, not to colleagues, not to the people who actually foot the bill, the taxpayers.
And just when you think it couldn’t get more transparent, McAfee and his wife conveniently maxed out donations to Champion’s campaign right after the funding came through. Nothing like a little “thank you” card with a check attached. If that happened in the private sector, people would be lawyering up. But in Minnesota politics? Champion just smiles and keeps the money flowing.
This isn’t an isolated case of bad judgment. It’s a pattern. In 2014, Champion was hit with an ethics complaint for nearly the same thing, using his legislative influence to direct public funding to a nonprofit run by another legal client. That case went nowhere because the committee deadlocked. And guess who now oversees that same committee? You guessed it. Champion.
Now, even as McAfee’s nonprofit faces serious allegations, including threats against Minneapolis City Council members and a shooting involving two of his so-called “violence interrupters,” Champion is still standing behind him. Still defending. Still pushing to send him more taxpayer money. No accountability. No transparency. No shame.
Champion is using his position to enrich people he's personally connected to, and he thinks no one will hold him accountable. And where’s the outrage from his own party? Where are the Democrats who claim to care about good governance and ethics? Their silence says everything. Protecting power matters more than protecting the public.
No public servant who uses their office to enrich a client quietly, and then hides it from the people, deserves to stay in that office for one more day. Minnesota deserves better than this. It deserves honesty. It deserves leaders who work for the people, not their friends. And Bobby Joe Champion has made it painfully clear who he really works for. He needs to resign. And if he won’t, then the Senate and the voters need to force the issue. Because if this kind of corruption goes unchecked, it won't stop with him.
