State Auditor, Senator Injured in Redwood County Crash

THREE LAKES TOWNSHIP, Minn. (AP) — Minnesota’s state auditor and a state senator are hospitalized following a collision with a semi in Redwood County.

According to a legislative aide for Sen. Melisa Franzen, the senator and state Auditor Julie Blaha were injured Wednesday while driving back from Farmfest in Redwood County.

The Minnesota State Patrol said a Jeep Cherokee driven by Blaha collided with a semi at an intersection in Three Lakes Township about 5 p.m. Both women were taken to Redwood Hospital with injuries that are not life threatening. The semi driver was not injured.

In a statement on Twitter, Senate Minority Leader Susan Kent said on Twitter that she had spoken with Franzen late Wednesday.

“I spoke with Melisa tonight. I was reassured by the sound of her voice and I’m so grateful it sounds like she’ll be OK,” Kent wrote. “I am holding both her and Julie in my prayers.”

Farmfest is a three-day agricultural show in southwestern Minnesota.