Representative-elect, Tom Emmer, has chosen former state Rep. David Fitzsimmons to be his chief of staff as Emmer heads to Washington to replace the retiring Rep. Michele Bachmann. Emmer’s choice of Fitzsimmons to run his office has raised the ire of Minnesota’s religious right.

In an interview with anti-abortion website LifeSiteNews, Autumn Leva, the director of policy and communications for the Minnesota Family Council, called Emmer’s pick “disturbing.”

According to Autumn Leva, the Director of Policy and Communications for theMinnesota Family Council, Emmer’s decision to pick FitzSimmons as Chief of Staff is concerning.
“I’m not sure that this decision is one that a majority of constituents in the district would agree with,” Leva told LifeSiteNews. “The 6th Congressional District in Minnesota is very conservative, as evidenced by its representation by [prominent marriage supporter] Michele Bachmann for the last eight years.”
“The state has gone through a lot of controversy over this issue recently, and state Rep. FitzSimmons was a major player in passage of same-sex ‘marriage,'” continued Leva, “especially because he put forth an amendment that he said would protect religious liberty.”
“However, as was shown when a hunting reserve said that they don’t host same-sex ‘weddings’ but was forced to settle and pay for the same-sex ceremony, FitzSimmons’ effort failed.”
Leva noted that “it is also disturbing that Rep.-elect Emmer would bring FitzSimmons on to his staff just months after FitzSimmons was voted out by Emmer’s own constituents.” FitzSimmons’ district is inside the 6th U.S. Congressional District, and he dropped out of contention for re-election after losing at this year’s endorsing convention.

LifeSiteNews also spoke with Winnie Ubike (née Okafor), a former staffer for Minnesota for Marriage who advocated reparative therapy for LGBT people.

According to former Minnesota marriage activist Winnie Ubike, who is now a Ph.D. student in Political Communications at the University of Maryland, College Park, “this selection of Rep. FitzSimmons is completely counter to what we fought for.”
“The decision to choose FitzSimmons should be concerning for Emmer’s supporters — especially since he is replacing Rep. Bachmann, who was a longtime marriage supporter,” said Ubike. “This whole situation indicates a problematic concern for the Republican Party in Minnesota.”