Amy Koch Amy T . Koch ( born October 8 , 1971 ) was a member of the Minnesota Senate and its former Majority Leader . Koch represented District 19 , which includes portions of Hennepin and Wright counties in the northwestern Twin Cities metropolitan area . Service and leadership in Minnesota Senate . A Republican , Koch was first elected to the Senate in a special election held on November 22 , 2005 , after Senator Mark Ourada announced his resignation effective December 31 , 2005 . She was re - elected in the 2006 and 2010 general elections . She previously served as an assistant minority leader , and was the first woman to serve as Majority Leader , and the first Republican to do so since the end of the non - partisan era . Koch previously served as a member of the Senate ' s Business , Industry and Jobs Committee , the Education Committee , the Energy , Utilities , Technology and Communications Committee , and the Transportation Committee . She also served on the Business , Industry and Jobs Subcommittee for Workforce Development , and on the Finance subcommittees for the E - 12 Education Budget and Policy Division , the Economic Development and Housing Budget Division ( on which she is the ranking minority member ) , the Transportation Budget and Policy Division , and the Transportation Budget and Policy Division - Transit Subdivision . Her special legislative concerns included transportation and reducing the size of government . Koch has been an opponent of same - sex marriage . In 2009 , she coauthored a bill ( S . F . No . 1975 ) to amend the Minnesota Constitution declaring " A marriage between a man and a woman is the only domestic legal union that shall be valid or recognized in Minnesota . " On December 15 , 2011 , Koch announced that she would not seek re - election , and resigned her position as majority leader . She said that she was resigning her leadership position immediately because her caucus could " not afford a lame duck leader in negotiations next session . " Later in the day local news media reported that four Republican state senators indicated Koch had an " inappropriate " relationship with a male staffer . On December 21 , Koch apologized for " engaging in a relationship with a Senate staffer , " admitted to making " mistakes and errors in judgment , " and stated , " It is important that I spend time now focusing on the challenging days ahead as I work through some very personal issues . " Because of the timing of her resignation , she became the shortest - tenured majority leader in Minnesota Senate history . Personal background . Education and military service . Koch attended Concordia College in Moorhead before enlisting in the United States Air Force in 1992 . She served in the U . S . Air Force as a Russian Linguist , graduating from the Defense Language Institute at the Presidio of Monterey in Monterey , California and was assigned to the National Security Agency . For her work with the agency , she received the Joint Service Achievement Medal . Koch received an honorable discharge from the U . S . military in 1996 and later attended St . Cloud State University in St . Cloud , graduating in 1999 . Business owner . Koch is a part owner of HBK Properties LLC in Buffalo and Hance Utility Services , Inc . , also in Buffalo .