MN GOP to have small advantage at start of 2025 leg. session
The 94th Minnesota Legislature will convene on Tuesday, January 14, 2025. And when that happens, it appears that Republicans will hold a slight, if temporary, advantage in both houses.
Two events occurred last week that point in that direction.
First, you recall the situation in Minnesota House District 40B. On election night, the Democratic candidate, Curtis Johnson, prevailed handily over the Republican, Paul Wikstrom, by a 65-35 margin. In a post-election legal filing, the Republican pointed out that Johnson had never bothered to move from his long-time Little Canada residence to any home inside the 40B boundaries.
On December 20, a state judge handed down the verdict. Minnesota Public Radio reported:
A Democratic state lawmaker-elect is barred from taking the oath of office after a district court judge ruled Friday that the candidate had failed to comply with state residency requirements, putting the 67-67 tie in the Minnesota House in doubt and giving Republicans a path to a slim majority.
Fast forward a week. Seeing the writing on the wall (tekel), Johnson sent a letter Friday to Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, available here on Facebook. In the letter, Johnson announced that he would not appeal the court’s decision. Curiously, Johnson also announced in that same letter his decision “to resign the Office of State Representative effective immediately.”
First of all, technically speaking, you cannot “resign” from an office that you have (1) never held and (2) been barred by court order from occupying. Second of all, Johnson could not resign from the seat “effective immediately” because the seat is currently occupied by someone else.
As of today, the seat is occupied by state Rep. Jamie Becker-Finn, who chose not to run for re-election in 2024. If Gov. Walz were to call a special session of the legislature between now and January 13 (as he has been urged to do), Rep. Becker-Finn would cast votes on behalf of her Roseville/Shoreview constituents. Until Becker-Finn’s term expires on January 14, the seat is occupied, and not by Mr. Johnson.
Turned around, there is no literal sense in which the 40B seat is “vacant.” Regardless, Gov. Walz — in a late-Friday, inter-holiday, Dec. 27 news dump — declared a vacancy and scheduled a snap special election for January 28. Candidates must file their paperwork by Tuesday, December 31 (New Year’s Eve).
So, for at least two weeks in January, or longer (depending on the date of the special election and when the results can be certified), Republicans will hold a 67-66 majority in the House.
That should be enough to elect a Republican as Speaker. As Democrats are unlikely to muster 68 votes to overturn that result (a tie vote fails), a Republican should hold the speakership until the 2026 election.
Given the partisan outcome in 40B last go-around, we may soon be back at a 67-67 tie, but who knows.
All of this presumes the outcome of the election contest in House District 54A. That Shakopee-area district saw Democratic incumbent Brad Tabke appear to prevail by 14 votes, with 21 votes missing and presumed destroyed. We await the judge’s decision in that case.
Looking ahead, Rep. Tabke may be facing a similar situation to Mr. Johnson. In any challenge to Rep. Tabke’s membership in the House, he would not have enough Democratic members to ensure he prevails.
That would put the partisan balance at 67-65, pending the much-less-certain outcome of a potential House 54A special election.
We now turn from farce to tragedy. Yesterday, it was announced that state Sen. Kari Dziedzic died, aged 62, after an extended battle with cancer. A Minneapolis Democrat, Sen. Dziedzic had represented District 60 since 2012. She had previously served as Majority Leader.
Her passing drops the state senate into a 33-33 tie (temporarily), until a special election can be held and the results certified, probably in early February.
[Update: the special election for Senate seat 60 has also been set for January 28. Candidates must file by close of business tomorrow, December 31.]
The timing is significant because the felony burglary trial of state Sen. Nicole Mitchell (DFL-Woodbury) is scheduled to begin on Monday, January 27. Presumably, Sen. Mitchell would exercise the good taste not to vote, via proxy, from inside the courtroom.
Should the trial go against Sen. Mitchell, another vacancy could be created, giving the GOP a very brief 33-32 advantage.
As for the trial itself, Fox-9 TV is the most recent news outlet to apply to install its cameras and livestream the proceedings.
It will be “must-watch” TV.