Partisan standoff roils Minnesota state House
Democrats and Republicans in the Minnesota House are embroiled in a standoff over who controls the lower chamber just months out from the election, which is already derailing the start of their legislative session.
The results of the November election initially brought both parties to a tie of 67-67, with leaders readying for a power-sharing agreement. But after a judge ruled that one Democratic candidate hadn’t properly met residency criteria, bringing Republicans to a 67-66 advantage, and missing ballots found in another tight election won by a Democrat threw that race temporarily into flux, the GOP sought to claim the majority and install a Speaker despite Democrats’ opposition.
Democrats are so far boycotting the session unless the GOP negotiates control over the chamber, but Republicans have rejected their conditions — putting the parties at a crossroads.
“The drama going on in Minnesota’s House is a kind of a familiar story about partisanship,” said Larry Jacobs, director of the University of Minnesota’s Center for the Study of Politics and Governance.
Months after the November election, voters still have little clue who’s running the Minnesota House. Both parties were initially expecting some sort of power-sharing agreement when the election results delivered an even split in the lower chamber.
But things quickly fell apart. For one, a judge in December found that Democratic candidate Curtis Johnson hadn’t met residency requirements for his House bid, giving GOP the edge.
A separate state House race also garnered attention when state Rep. Brad Tabke (DFL) won his race by 14 votes after officials found 20 missing ballots that had not been included in the tally. A judge ultimately ruled that Tabke had won the election after hearing testimony from enough voters who said they had cast ballots for the Democrat, yet Republicans have been noncommittal about recognizing Tabke’s win in the House.
Democrats have demanded that Tabke be seated. House Democrats have made an offer to Republicans, saying they’ll give Republican Leader Lisa Demuth temporary Speakership if Republicans return to a power-sharing agreement once a special election for the seat Johnson won takes place. Democrats expect to win that district, which would bring the state House back to an even split.
“I understand the consideration of using a temporary moment in time like that to really significantly disadvantage the other side, but it ignores the reality that we have to work together to get things done,” state House Democratic Leader Melissa Hortman told The Hill.
Demuth maintained in an interview with The Hill that Democrats have only been interested in a power-sharing agreement from the start.
“They’re really not engaged in good faith as far as doing the jobs they were elected to do. I will be Speaker for two years,” Demuth said. “I am very willing to consider, if they return back to a tie, some type of modified power-sharing, which would include, potentially some co-chairs, some equal membership on some of the committees, and I’ve made that very, very clear to Rep. Hortman.”
Democrats, who have boycotted the session to block the quorum needed to do business in the House, sued Republicans, arguing that they need 68 members — not 67 — to constitute a quorum and conduct business. Republicans say 67 members out of the 133 elected makes a quorum.
Republicans have introduced a resolution asking that Gov. Tim Walz (D) direct the Minnesota State Patrol to compel Democrats back to the state House by Thursday afternoon.
The Minnesota Supreme Court will hear arguments Thursday regarding the definition of a quorum, with a decision expected soon after. Experts believe, until then, both parties will remain at loggerheads over how to proceed.
“If the Supreme Court rules in favor of the Democrats, I think we’ll go to the power-sharing agreement,” said Abou Amara, who served as a top aide to state Supreme Court Justice Paul Thissen (DFL) when he served as Minnesota House Speaker.
“If the Supreme Court stays out of that fight or if they rule in favor of Republicans, then I think the Democrats will have no other choice but to show up and, ultimately, the Republicans will elect their Speaker and do what they’re going to do,” he added.
It’s not the first time Minnesota has seen a divided House. The state House saw a 67-67 split following the 1978 election, which also saw heated conversations over the power structure. Those negotiations ultimately saw Republicans choose their Speaker while Democrats were allowed to chair three top committees in the House.
Former Minnesota House Speaker Steve Sviggum (R), who was serving in his first term during the 1979 session’s power split, told The Hill that Republicans got “out-negotiated” that time.
He also had some sharp words for Democrats, saying it was “absolutely irresponsible” for them not to show up to work, and he said “right now Republicans have the majority and should govern as such.”
Yet even he agreed the parties should have a power-sharing agreement if Democrats win their special election in the spring, bringing the House back to a split.
“If they tie the House — then I think you need to go back to a parity power-sharing agreement,” he said, noting at this point a House tie was a “hypothetical.”
The bitter fight playing out in Minnesota underscores how thin margins can easily stymie any signs of compromise. House Republicans in Congress know that story well — albeit for different reasons — as they’ve seen multiple Speakership fights ensue, prompted by a small group of conservative holdouts.
But the struggle between the two parties in the North Star State comes months out from a deadline to pass their two-year government budget.
If lawmakers can’t pass the two-year budget by May, when the session ends, they’d likely have to go back in for a special session to address it before a June 30 government funding deadline.
“Thinking of [a] special election in January — it’s bracing, because you would hope that the next four months there would be possibilities to find an agreement, but I do think it’s a real possibility because you’ve got two polarized parties that are locked in on their position,” Jacobs said.