Minnesota state Sen. Justin Eichorn has resigned from office after federal authorities charged him for allegedly seeking to pay for sex from someone he believed was a teenage girl.

The third-term Republican lawmaker from Grand Rapids sent his letter of resignation to Gov. Tim Walz Thursday as the Senate prepared to take up an expulsion vote, according to the Senate Republican Caucus.Senate Minority Leader Mark Johnson, R-East Grand Forks, said it was the “right thing” to do as the case would have been a distraction for lawmakers.

Senate Republicans were prepared to vote unanimously to expel Eichorn, Johnson said, with Democrats expected to join. It would have been the first expulsion in Minnesota Senate history.

“This would have been a cloud over the Senate — we don’t need another one of those — so now we’re able to get back to work,” he told reporters after the Senate adjourned late Thursday morning. “Decisive action needed to take place.”

Mitchell case

Johnson was referring to the criminal case looming over Democratic-Farmer-Labor Sen. Nicole Mitchell of Woodbury, who was charged with felony burglary last April for allegedly breaking into her estranged stepmother’s Detroit Lakes, Minn., home to remove items of sentimental value, including her father’s ashes.

Senate Majority Leader Erin Murphy, DFL-St. Paul, said Mitchell’s situation could not be compared to Eichorn’s.

“The difference between the dispute with Senator Mitchell and this is night and day,” she told reporters. “The predatory behavior demonstrated in the criminal complaint by Mr. Eichorn puts people at risk in this chamber.”

Republicans have pushed repeatedly to remove Mitchell from office, though their efforts have failed. Their most recent ethics complaints stalled in a partisan deadlock in the Senate’s ethics committee earlier this month.

Senate Republicans called for Eichorn’s resignation soon after news emerged of his Monday evening arrest, though DFL leadership waited until Wednesday ahead of the expulsion vote to ask the senator to step down.

Murphy said Democrats made their decision after viewing the federal criminal complaint, which detailed Eichorn’s interactions with a detective claiming to be a 17-year-old girl.

Eichorn appears in court

Eichorn was arrested Monday after authorities say he tried to meet with a teen who turned out to be a detective with the Bloomington Police Department. He was initially arrested on a state charge, but the Minnesota U.S. Attorney’s Office has taken up the case.

Eichorn appeared in federal court in St. Paul Thursday afternoon on a federal charge of coercion and enticement of a minor. A judge approved his release from jail but he will remain in a halfway house and be subject to monitoring ahead of trial.

Under bond conditions set by Magistrate Judge Shannon G. Elkins, Eichorn will be supervised by the U.S. Probation and Pretrial Service Office. They’ll track his location by GPS and monitor his online activities if the office approves phone or computer access.

He’s also prohibited from interacting with anyone under the age of 18, except in the presence of a “responsible adult” who is aware of Eichorn’s background and has been approved by a supervising officer.

Eichorn appeared with a federal public defender on Thursday, but is in the process of hiring a private attorney, according to Senate Republicans.

Eichorn was first elected in 2016 and was serving his third term as a state senator in District 6, which includes Itasca, Cass and Crow Wing counties. He lives in Grand Rapids with his wife and four children and has a background in business.

With his resignation, Republicans have 32 seats in the Senate to the DFL’s 3. Walz will have to call a special election to fill the seat in District 6.

Prostitution sting

Bloomington police had been running an undercover operation targeting underage commercial sex and posted an online advertisement to which Eichorn, 40, responded on March 11, the U.S. Attorney’s Office alleges. The advertisement featured images of a person who claimed to be 18.

But in messages and voice chats over several days, the undercover officer repeatedly said she was not 18, but 17 years old. Eichorn continued asking about pricing for various sex acts and arranged to meet in person, according to the charge.

In messages included in the federal criminal complaint, Eichorn allegedly asked the undercover officer about how much it would cost for a “Qv” or quick visit, or a “half hour,” and whether an “outcall” visit would be possible.

The senator and undercover officer also discussed the age of consent, according to the complaint.

“I am 17…like I said don’t want any drama but wanna be upfront cause one guy got hella mad at me,” the officer posing as a teenager said.

“Why was he so mad? I think age of consent is 17 when do ya turn 18?” the senator allegedly replied, before saying he believed the age of consent was 16, and only over 18 if it involves a person in a position of authority, according to the charge.

Officers eventually arranged to meet with Eichorn at the 8300 block of Normandale Boulevard on Monday evening, according to Bloomington police. Before meeting, Eichorn asked for a verification photo of the person he believed was a 17-year-old wearing a ”bra and underwear holding up 2 fingers.”

The senator arrived in a pickup truck and was arrested by uniformed officers without incident, according to police.

The senator was booked into the Bloomington Police Department jail and transferred to Hennepin County Tuesday night. The jail listed Eichorn as released Thursday night.