Stillwater, Minn. — A Hugo woman who left a series of threatening voicemails for Minnesota House Speaker Lisa Demuth was sentenced today in Washington County District Court to three years of supervised probation, Washington County Attorney Kevin Magnuson announced.
Rachel Marie Welsch, 43, pleaded guilty in July to one felony count of threats of violence. Judge Juanita C. Freeman stayed imposition of sentence and ordered Welsch to complete 180 hours of community work service, have no contact with Speaker Demuth or her staff, refrain from using or possessing firearms, and complete mental health programming, among other conditions.
The charges
According to the criminal complaint, beginning Jan. 1, 2026, the Minnesota State Patrol investigated voicemails Welsch left, almost daily, on the office voicemail systems of two members of the Minnesota House of Representatives. The messages concerned current political issues. They were angry from the start and grew more threatening over time. Welsch was charged in connection with the messages she left for the Speaker, who was identified in the complaint as a candidate for governor.
In her first message to the Speaker, Welsch said she was going to come and meet her, adding, “I am not kidding. Wherever you are, you should be wondering when we are going to come.” In a second message that day, Welsch said she would find the Speaker wherever she was.
State troopers went to Welsch’s home on Jan. 2 to discuss the messages. Welsch acknowledged leaving them. When a trooper asked whether she planned to harm the Speaker, Welsch asked the troopers to leave.
The messages continued. On Jan. 8, Welsch called the Speaker a traitor and said, “What do we do to traitors? What did they do to traitors back in the day? I am going to have to brush up on my history.”
On Feb. 11, Welsch referred to the troopers’ visit to her home and said, “There is not bulletproof glass between us. Do you understand that?” Later in the message, she said, “You are going to fall. And I will be there, I’ll be at the end of that barrel. You are going to fall.”
On Feb. 24, Welsch left a message saying she looked forward to seeing the Speaker “face to face” on the campaign trail in her county. She said she wanted to show the Speaker “how good I have been getting at my 2A [Second Amendment] classes, and learning how to shoot,” and offered to send a picture showing “how good of a marksman I am.”
Case history
The Washington County Attorney’s Office charged Welsch on Feb. 26, 2026, with one count of felony threats of violence. She pleaded guilty to that charge on July 6, 2026.
Sentencing
At today’s hearing, Speaker Demuth delivered a victim impact statement in which she told the court that disagreement with elected officials should never lead to threats or violence, and that Welsch’s calls, which her staff also had to listen to, caused fear for herself, her family, and her staff. She said she hopes Welsch receives the mental health care she needs, and noted that, out of compassion, she would not seek restitution.
Assistant Washington County Attorney Nick Hydukovich, who heads the office’s Criminal Division, asked the court to place Welsch on probation for five years and order 300 hours of community work service. He told the court that threats like Welsch’s have always been unacceptable and illegal, but that the assassination of former Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband and the shooting of Sen. John Hoffman made them even more concerning. Public servants, he argued, must be able to do their jobs without fear that they, their families, or their staff will be harmed.
Hydukovich noted that, with Speaker Demuth’s agreement, the State had agreed Welsch could perform community work service in place of jail time so that she would give back to the community.
Under the sentence, Welsch must:
• Serve three years of supervised probation through Washington County Community Corrections.
• Complete 180 hours of community work service, with at least 60 hours completed in the first year of probation.
• Have no direct or indirect contact with Speaker Demuth or any member of her staff known to Welsch.
• Not use or possess firearms, ammunition, or explosives.
• Complete all mental health programming, including taking any prescribed medication, as directed.
• Complete a cognitive skills evaluation and follow its recommendations.
“Threats of violence against public officials have always been illegal, but after the assassination of former Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark, and the shootings of Sen. John Hoffman and his wife, Yvette, no one can dismiss them as just words,” Magnuson said. “Minnesotans are free to disagree with their elected leaders, forcefully and often. They are not free to threaten them. Public servants of every party, along with their families and staff, must be able to serve without fear of being harmed, and this office will continue to treat these threats with the seriousness they demand. I’m grateful to the Minnesota State Patrol for its prompt investigation and to Speaker Demuth for addressing the court.”