Constitutional Crisis Day 4: dueling court opinions deepen the crisis
It was a busy pre-holiday-weekend, late-Friday-afternoon in the state’s ongoing Constitutional Crisis. Two important court decisions were issued on either end of the state that move in opposite directions, but, somehow, both combine to deepen the crisis.
We’ll take the House of Representatives first. As you know, House Republicans hold a one-seat majority (67-66) owing to a vacancy in House District 40B (Roseville/Shoreview).
The vacancy arises because the Democratic candidate in the November election perjured himself in claiming he lived within the district boundaries, as required by state law.
The election results were tossed out. Governor Tim Walz then issued a premature writ for a special election, which he scheduled for January 28.
In an order issued at 4:59 pm Friday afternoon, the state Supreme Court quashed the writ for a new election. The court order can be read here.
First of all, may I congratulate our friends at the Upper Midwest Law Center (UMLC) on their courtroom victory on behalf of the Minnesota Voters Alliance (MVA)?
As the order makes clear (p. 2), the Governor cannot issue a writ until 22 days after the start of the legislative session, which may or may not have occurred on January 14.
22 days after January 14 puts us on February 5. Figure at least 30 days for the election to run, and a Tuesday election day, puts us on or about March 11.
[Apparently Gov. Walz has said tonight that the election could happen as early as Wednesday, March 5, which would suggest a March 10 return for Democrats. In a statement issued tonight, House Democrats appear committed to staying away until March. The war could be over now, if they want it to be.]
If, as the Governor argues elsewhere, the House has yet to convene in session, who knows when the special election can occur. Both the Democratic Secretary of State Steve Simon and the House Democratic members are suing the majority House Republicans for operating the chamber this week. As UMLC explains, if the Democrats prevail in their claim that the MN House has not yet begun to operate for the year, the date of the 40B special election will slip even further.
In either case, House Democrats had been eyeing a February 3rd date for ending their boycott of House proceedings, assuming that their candidate would have won the 40B special election the previous Tuesday. Now they will have to hold out until on or about March 17 to have the same effect.
[GOP House Majority Leader Harry Niska points out that the House adopted a resolution (p. 8) on Tuesday that would allow the Governor to call an earlier election. But Walz would have to acknowledge that the Republicans have a working majority. Under the GOP-passed resolution, the Walz could issue a call as early as Sunday, Jan. 19, for an election to be held in late February.]
So, House Democrats are caught in a Catch-22: they won’t return until a 67th Democrat is elected, but, if UMLC is correct, they can’t get a 67th Democrat elected until they return.
Down the hallway, there was good news for Senate Democrats now locked in a 33-33 tie with the Republicans. The felony burglary trial of Sen. Nicole Mitchell (DFL-Woodbury) had been scheduled to begin Monday, January 27. During the trial she would have been unavailable to vote on Senate business, giving the GOP a brief 33-32 majority.
Late Friday afternoon, a judge in Becker County granted Mitchell’s request to delay her trial until July, at the earliest. Given the events described above, the legislative session is less and less likely to be resolved on time, further postponing her courtroom date.
You will recall that, last year, the Senate’s ethics committee declined to take action because the matter was in the courts. Now the courts are postponing action because the state senate is in session. We have a classic Catch-22 situation.
Her continued presence in the Senate, casting deciding votes day-after-day, will continue to irritate Senate Republicans. Gov. Tim Walz and other prominent Democrats have called on Mitchell to resign, which she refuses to do.
Developing…