Associated Press

A Devils Lake restaurant has obtained a temporary restraining order against former state senator and tax commissioner candidate Mike Every.

Scott and Janet Otis, who own the Devils Lake franchise rights to The Pizza Ranch, say in court documents that Every threatened them and tried to blackmail them. Every did not immediately return a telephone call seeking comment.

Every was general manager of the restaurant from September 2006 to December of last year. Court documents filed by attorneys for the Otises say that when Every quit, he demanded payment for bonuses he wasn't entitled to.

Every was elected to the state Senate in 2000 and was the Senate's Democratic assistant minority leader in the 2003 and 2005 sessions of the Legislature. He was the unsuccessful Democratic candidate for state tax commissioner in 2004.