House Democrats Will Return to Work Under One Condition

(KNSI) — Members of the Minnesota House of Representatives remain entrenched in a partisan power struggle after the GOP gained a temporary one seat majority, but the DFL says they’ll return to the Capitol under one condition – that the GOP honor the will of the voters.

The House was set to enter the session with a 67 all tie, and both sides had entered into a power sharing agreement, but the Democrat from District 40B was disqualified after it was discovered he lied about where he lived and he didn’t have a legal address in his district. That gave Republicans the one seat majority. They showed up for work on January 14th; Democrats did not, thereby denying a quorum and preventing any work from getting started.

Despite not showing up at the Capitol, Democrats insist they’ve been working in their districts. Representative Dan Wolgamott told us he was meeting with constituents and is possibly getting more work done staying in St. Cloud than he would be if he were on the House floor.

The DFL caucus said Tuesday they are prepared to return “if Republicans agree to respect the election results” allowing DFL state Representative Brad Tabke from District 54A which covers the Shakopee area to be seated, bringing the chamber back to a tie, and honor the power sharing agreement struck before the issues in District 40B arose.

The election between Representative Tabke and Republican challenger Aaron Paul ended with a 14 vote separation. Then it was discovered that 20 absentee ballots were missing and likely thrown away before they could be counted. The state says those votes were “likely” for Tabke and gave him the victory. His win has been upheld by the Secretary of State and by the courts.

Governor Tim Walz issued a writ of special election for District 40B for January 28th, which the GOP said violated the State Constitution and such a writ couldn’t be issued until 22 days after the session started. The GOP sued and the High Court sided with them. The governor has not set another date for the election.

Former House Speaker Melissa Hortman said lawmakers must respect what the people want. “The voters gave us a Minnesota House of Representatives where no party has a majority. The only way to make the House work is if we collaborate. We’re asking Republicans to do one simple thing: honor the will of the voters in Shakopee and across the state.”

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