Lots of eyebrows were raised this morning at news that state Sen. Scott Newman's office had sent an email to the Minnesota Nurses Association essentially saying: You supported the other guy, so buzz off.

Opinions ranged from outrage over a perceived abuse of the democratic [with a small d] process, to amazement that a politician's minion would actually put something like that in writing.

After first telling news organizations that he would not be interviewed on the subject, the freshman senator from Hutchinson has now told the Strib and the Capitol media that it was an error made by a new aide.

“It’s clearly my responsibility,. But this is a brand new [legislative assistant] ... what she put out is not — it is not my policy. If this nursing organization wants to see me, they will see me."

Shortly after that, he issued this statement:

"An email sent from my office suggested that I will not meet with groups or organizations that supported my opponent in the past election. While I did not personally send the email, nor was I aware of it, I do apologize for the confusion and frustration it has caused and I accept complete responsibility.

I want to be clear that it is not my policy to reject meeting requests on a political or partisan basis. I look forward to continuing to serve all constituents of Senate District 18 as the legislative session continues."

The nurses association, which endorsed Newman's opponent but didn't contribute to the campaign, had asked for a meeting with the senator. A return email, sent by Kim Kelley, Newman's legislative assistant, said:

"Unfortunately, Senator Newman will not see any organizations that donated to/supported his opponent Hal Kimball [no relation to me]. After some careful checking, I discovered that the MNA had donated to Kimball's campaign.Your association will be unable to schedule an appointment with Senator Newman."

 Bluestem Prairie, a progressive blog from Hutchinson, first reported on the email and notes Hal Kimball's response in his own blog to the Newman email:

My first reaction was surprise. Really? Senator Newman won't meet with local Vietnam Veterans, college students, local farmers, school teachers, Racino supporters, local laborers, local nurses, etc?

 Absurd!

 My initial shock wore off quickly. During my time with the Minnesota State University Student Association, I worked with higher education groups across the state. We worked to set up meetings with legislators in a strong effort to "Freeze Tuition". We met with virtually every State Representative and Senator, except then Representative Newman. I literally chased him from the House chambers to his office in the State Office Building trying to talk to him about higher education issues. It didn't matter ... Representative Newman didn't want to talk to us.

 Now, he wants to know who you voted for and who you gave money to before he talks to you. Per an email to the Minnesota Nurses Association, Senator Newman refuses to meet with them because they endorsed my candidacy for the State Senate. They incorrectly assert that the MNA provided my campaign with much needed funding. Per our campaign finance board reports, they did not, despite what Senator Newman's Legislative Assistant Kim Kelley thinks she found.