Minnesota House starts legislative session without Democrats

Attention shifts to the courts Wednesday amid an intense power standoff at the state Capitol.

House Democratic leaders and DFL Secretary of State Steve Simon, whose ruling to adjourn Tuesday’s session was ignored by Republicans, asked the Minnesota Supreme Court to weigh in and deem the shadow session unlawful.

Sixty-six Democrats in the chamber boycotted the first day of session and deprived quorum when Simon presided over the chamber. But GOP leaders objected to the move to adjourn and held their own session, complete with an election for House speaker, immediately after Simon stepped down. They put up all 67 of their votes in support of making GOP Leader Lisa Demuth, R-Cold Spring, their speaker.

“All of the actions taken after Secretary Simon adjourned the House, including Respondent Demuth’s election as Speaker of the House, were improper and unlawful.” House Democratic leaders Melissa Hortman, Jamie Long and Athena Hollins wrote in a filing late Tuesday.

They asked that the court deem the moves unlawful, since the Republicans didn’t have the 68 votes needed to constitute a quorum in the chamber and invalidate them.

Simon in a separate filing echoed the argument and said that he remains the presiding officer in the chamber until 68 members show up.

“Until a quorum is present and a speaker is properly elected, the Secretary remains the House’s presiding officer and his role may not be usurped,” he wrote.

Republicans insist it takes only 67 members to conduct House business because it only has 133 certified members, pending a special election.

Rep. Harry Niska, a GOP leader, said Simon exceeded his power. 

“The Legislature gets to decide what its quorum rules are going to be. The Legislature gets to decide what its internal rules are going to be. The Legislature gets to decide who its presiding officers are going to be,” Niska said. “The secretary of state doesn’t get to control that.” 

Republicans, meanwhile, accuse Democrats of violating state law by having their members take an oath of office at a private ceremony on Sunday — two days before the formal start of the 2025 session. Republicans referred to their Democratic colleagues Tuesday as “Representative-elect,” but so far haven’t initiated court action to challenge whether they are duly sworn.

Walz weighs in

Gov. Tim Walz, who didn’t make his typical rounds to greet lawmakers on the first day, issued a statement questioning the validity of the House proceedings.

“As much as House Republicans may want to govern as a single party, the law is the law and the House is not in session,” Walz said in a written statement. “House Republicans need to assure Minnesotans that they won’t overturn an election or take power voters didn’t give them. Once that common sense commitment is made, the important work that the House has in front of them can move forward.”

The Minnesota Supreme Court has already been drawn into an election dispute over one unsettled House seat, with a hearing Wednesday morning over the timing of an upcoming special election.

That seat — the 134th — had been in Democratic hands after November’s election. But the winner, Curtis Johnson, bowed out after a judge found he didn’t establish proper residency in the district. 

Walz scheduled a special election for Jan. 28, but Republicans sued saying that the actual vacancy hadn’t occurred and the election couldn’t be put on a fast track.

“Johnson was not in possession of the office, so he was not an incumbent capable of resigning to create a vacancy,” attorneys for the Republican Party and the Minnesota Voters Alliance wrote in a brief submitted to the court this week. The case seeks to cancel and reschedule the Jan. 28 special election.

An attorney for Walz said he properly employed a state law allowing for special election preparations when a vacancy is inevitable.

In their rebooted session Tuesday, House Republicans passed a resolution that would set Tuesday as the day the seat actually came open. If that position holds up, it would push off the election until February or beyond. That would keep Republicans in a 67 to 66 position for longer.

It’s not the only seat that’s a point of contention. A judge ruled Tuesday that DFL Rep. Brad Tabke’s narrow election win should stand although Republicans aren’t agreeing they’ll seat him.  

Meanwhile, the Senate has opened without the tensions gripping the House. A power-sharing agreement has resulted in co-chamber presidents, equal representation on committees and an agreement that no commissioner confirmation or bill votes happen without joint agreement.

Senate Republican Leader Mark Johnson said he and Democratic Leader Erin Murphy worked hard to strike the agreement.

“Nobody had those gotcha moments,” Johnson said. “Think less of like a WWE conversation and more like an escape room where we’re just trying to figure out how to make this work together to get to an end goal.”

MPR News reporters Kirsti Marohn and Peter Cox contributed to this story.