This House candidate got into fight with councilwoman’s son while trying to stop an election 

A Republican candidate in a south metro House district is an election conspiracy theorist who once got into a brawl with the son of a Rosemount city councilwoman. Drew Roach of Farmington tried to serve then-Rosemount City Council member Tammy Block with court papers at her house, notifying her of a lawsuit to try to stop an upcoming primary election.

Roach is seeking to replace Rep. Patrick Garofalo, a veteran Republican lawmaker not seeking re-election in November. House District 58B is Republican-leaning, although like many suburban districts it’s become purpler; Republican Tim Pitcher lost the 2016 Senate District 58 race to a Democrat, former Sen. Matt Little, for instance.

Sean McKnight, a retired Apple Valley police officer, is also running for the Republican endorsement for the seat this Saturday during a GOP convention in Farmington.

Roach is aligned with election deniers and was involved in the lawsuit seeking to stop the 2022 primary election over technicalities. That’s what brought him to Block’s door on Aug. 2, 2022. 

He was trying to serve Block with papers notifying her of a petition against the city seeking to stop the upcoming primary election, alleging the city failed to notify the public of upgrades to the electronic voting machines’ software. 

Roach and other activists believed the upgrades were tantamount to a new system and should have triggered a public comment period.

Secretary of State Steve Simon said at the time the upgrades were akin to an iPhone update and didn’t require public notice. The lawsuit was ultimately dismissed by the state Supreme Court.

Block told police Roach and a woman showed up at her house three times that day. The third time, her 20-year-old son Daniel Tesch got into an altercation with Roach outside the house, as four children watched from Roach’s car, according to a police report.

Tesch, Roach and Block’s fiancée all ended up being charged with disorderly conduct.

Block called Roach a “political extremist” and resigned from the City Council after the incident.

Five police officers responded to a report that two people were fighting in the street at about 8:50 p.m. Tesch told police he got into a fight with Roach because he was harassing his mother with three visits, and aggressively pounding on the door. The third time, Block’s fiancée Marco Arriaga answered the door, and the two exchanged words. 

Tesch heard the commotion and went outside, and told police things turned physical after Roach said, “I know where you live, mother***er.” 

Tesch admitted he put Roach into a chokehold and dragged him to the ground in a neighbor’s yard across the street. Then Roach punched Tesch in the face, according to the police report.

Roach told police he was trying to serve Block court papers on behalf of a fellow “patriot” in Rosemount. Roach said Tesch got in his face, blocked him from leaving and then threw him on the ground and they began “tussling.”

Roach admitted that he punched Tesch after being put in a chokehold.

“You best believe I threw a punch, he’s lucky I didn’t get more in,” he told police.

All three men were charged with disorderly conduct and brawling, and while Tesch and Arriaga pleaded guilty to the misdemeanor disorderly conduct charge, Roach refused to take a deal and was set to go to trial when the charge was dismissed last fall. He told the Reformer by email that the criminal charges were “completely politically motivated.”

A coterie of election deniers rallied around Roach and raised money for his legal defense. Among them: Erik Van Mechelen, a right-wing activist who ran in the 2022 Republican primary for secretary of state but lost to another election conspiracy theorist, Kim Crockett; and, Rick Weible, the former mayor of St. Bonifacius who has become an increasingly prominent purveyor of election fraud claims under the moniker “Midwest Swamp Watch.”

Roach said in email answers to Reformer questions that the only group he’s part of is “Republicans, Independents, and Democrats — known as the majority of Americans — who agree that we should have secure elections.”

Asked whether elections should be conducted with voting machines or hand counted, he said: “We should have secure elections and where security can be ensured, openly inspected, audited and with the least chance of voter fraud.”

(After every Minnesota election, a random group of precincts in every congressional district is chosen for review, totaling roughly 440,000 votes after the 2020 election, spanning more than 200 precincts. The hand tallies were virtually identical to the machine tallies.) 

Asked whether he thought the 2020 election was rigged, Roach accused Secretary of State Steve Simon of subverting democracy and “doing an end run” around Minnesota voters when he agreed to expand absentee voting during the pandemic. 

The Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals wound up ruling the consent decree extending the absentee voting deadline by a week was unconstitutional and ordered ballots received after Election Day to be segregated.

It made no difference in the outcome, however, as President Joe Biden won Minnesota handily. 

“Not only did these election law violations happen in Minnesota, but in states all over the country,” Roach said.

Asked whether Biden was rightfully elected president, he said, “according to the U.S. Constitution, only the electoral college, subject to congressional approval, elects a president and that is what took place with Joe Biden some four years ago.”