If California State Sen. Roy Ashburn can hit the gay bars in Sacramento, can’t Minnesota State Sen. Paul Koering take gay porn stars out on dates?

Koering is the openly gay Republican who once wanted to be governor — and while he voted against state constitutional bans on marriage and civil unions for gays, it’s not like he was really pushing to legalize it either; in 2009, he voted against legalizing gay marriage.

But there he was trying to woo porn star and former escort Brandon Wilde over dinner at the restaurant Iven’s On The Bay in Brainerd — for which the senator makes no apologies, he tells The Sword (NSFW).

Wilde first tweeted about his night with Koering on Sunday evening, writing, “lol so funny!! in 45 mins im going 2 dinner with the senator :).” The senator, Koering, picked Wilde up and took him to Iven’s on the Bay restaurant in Brainerd, where they dined on strip steak and beef medallions. In an exclusive interview with The Sword this morning, Koering was unapologetic: “I don’t see anything wrong with going out with him. Do I think that being a porn star is the best thing? No. But that’s his choice. I think he’s a nice guy.” The Sword spoke to Wilde, too, who revealed that his date with Koering was casual, yet awkward: “I think he wanted to get in my pants, truthfully. And he was pretty flirty. But it was just dinner. We both were checking out the waiter though. It was fun.”

Koering says that while he doesn’t approve of Wilde’s career choice, he would like a second date. Which is funny, because we don’t approve of Koering’s career choice — porn is less devious than politics any day.

And for the record, Koering only paid for dinner. Not Wilde’s time. Even though until very recently, Wilde maintained a profile on Rentboy.com. He must know Jo-Vanni Roman, then? From the meetings?