Political power plays cloud start of Minnesota's legislative session

Ryan Faircloth and Rochelle Olson, The Minnesota Star Tribune on Jan 6, 2025

By clicking submit, I authorize Arcamax and its affiliates to: (1) use, sell, and share my information for marketing purposes, including cross-context behavioral advertising, as described in our Privacy Policy , (2) add to information that I provide with other information like interests inferred from web page views, or data lawfully obtained from data brokers, such as past purchase or location data, or publicly available data, (3) contact me or enable others to contact me by email or other means with offers for different types of goods and services, and (4) retain my information while I am engaging with marketing messages that I receive and for a reasonable amount of time thereafter. I understand I can opt out at any time through an email that I receive, or by clicking here

Minnesota’s 2025 legislative session is headed toward a historically sour start.

House Democrats are considering taking the extraordinary step of not showing up for the first two weeks of the session, which starts Jan. 14, to deprive Republicans of the quorum they need to operate, two sources with knowledge of the caucus discussions said. Meanwhile, Republicans are pondering using their one-seat advantage in the House to refuse to seat a Democratic representative whose election victory they challenged in court. The political power plays being discussed by both parties would be unprecedented in Minnesota and could further deepen political divisions.

The Minnesota House was expected to be evenly divided between Democrats and Republicans after the November election, but control of the chamber temporarily shifted to Republicans after a judge ruled in December that a newly elected Democrat didn’t live in his Roseville-area district and was ineligible to take office. Republicans will have a one-seat edge at least until a special election is held Jan. 28 to fill the likely blue seat.

GOP lawmakers hope to use that advantage to elect a speaker and control the House committees for the next two years. But Democrats could possibly stall House business by depriving the chamber of a quorum. DFL legislators would presumably return to the Capitol in late January if a DFLer wins the special election and returns the House to a 67-67 tie.

House DFL Leader Melissa Hortman said Monday that Republicans and Democrats should govern with shared power since the chamber is likely to be evenly divided after the special election. If Republicans refuse, Hortman said “Democrats are prepared to use all parliamentary tactics available to us.”

“We have no interest in spending January locked in partisan warfare with House Republicans, but we do not intend to allow them to pretend that 67 votes is a majority and engage in an illegitimate power grab,” Hortman, DFL-Brooklyn Park, said in a statement.

House Republicans have signaled they could use their momentary advantage to refuse to seat a Democratic representative whose 14-vote election victory win has been contested in court after county elections officials lost 20 absentee ballots in one precinct. Republicans want the court to declare a vacancy for the seat held by Rep. Brad Tabke, DFL-Shakopee, which would trigger a new special election. The judge is expected to rule on the request this week.

Regardless of what the judge says, the House and Senate have the constitutional power to seat their own members, meaning Republicans could seek to bar Tabke from taking office for another term. Asked directly if Republicans would refuse to seat Tabke when session begins Jan. 14, House GOP Leader Lisa Demuth didn’t rule it out.

“We’re waiting for that judge’s ruling. We will make our determination based on what the judge comes through with,” Demuth, R-Cold Spring, said in an interview Monday morning. “But we, of course, asked for a new election. That’s the only way to guarantee a solid election in that area.”

Declining to seat Tabke could potentially compel another special election that wouldn’t occur until February and would further extend the duration of the GOP’s narrow House control. Tabke said in a social media post Sunday that he plans to hold three fundraisers this week: “Some House GOP members are working to force a special election taking our House seat. We need to be prepared.”

Demuth said if House Democrats don’t show up to work next week, they could be subject to recall petitions.

“I will expect that they’ll be professional legislators and show up,” Demuth said.

It’s a remarkable reversal from just two months ago, when Democrats and Republicans began discussing how to amicably share power in what was expected to be a tied Minnesota House. Those power-sharing discussions ended after a judge ruled that Democrat Curtis Johnson was ineligible to take office.

--------