Koering’s opponent responds to gay porn flap

Openly gay state Sen. Paul Koering, already facing a tough GOP primary battle, raised eyebrows earlier this week when he confirmed to a gay porn website that he had dinner with a porn actor last weekend. His Republican opponent, Paul Gazelka, told supporters in an email that there are more important issues his campaign will be addressing.

“Rather than focus on this event, we will be focusing on the issues where my opponent and I are different,” he wrote. “If you think it is important that our state legislators be committed to reign in government spending and focus on creating private-sector jobs, then I believe I am the right candidate for you.”

The GOP, which endorsed Gazelka in the Senate race, did focus on the event, recently issuing a statement to the Brainerd newspaper that Koering’s meal with porn actor Brandon Wilde showed “incredibly bad judgment.”

Gazelka didn’t respond to a request for comment by the Minnesota Independent, but he did tell KSTP that Koering’s alleged comment to Wilde that he supported legalizing gay marriage would be an issue in the campaign.

Koering denied that he supports gay marriage in an interview with porn news website The Sword.