Fight for House control appears tied as razor-thin races head for likely recounts

(UPDATED 12:52 p.m. Nov. 8)

The 134-seat Minnesota House of Representatives appears as though it will be evenly divided during the 2025-26 biennium.

Control of the body still hung in the balance Friday with results from the Office of the Secretary of State showing DFL and Republican candidates each having won 67 races. That balance could be tipped by a razor-thin result in one race tight enough to trigger an automatic recount under state law: Rep. Brad Tabke (DFL-Shakopee) won reelection in District 54A by 13 votes over Aaron Paul. The contest had 21,931 votes cast, including 36 write-ins.

Initial results on Tuesday showed Rep. Dan Wolgamott (DFL-St. Cloud) winning reelection over Sue Ek by just 28 votes in District 14B, a race in which 19,542 votes were cast, including 56 write-ins. That difference would have made the race eligible for a state-funded recount.

Voters cast their ballots in a high school gymnasium Nov. 5. (Photo by Michele Jokinen)

However, while double-checking all tabulations Thursday, Sherburne County officials found some absentee ballots were not included in the election night totals uploaded to the secretary of state's website. Those ballots pushed Wolgamott’s winning margin to 191 votes, outside the margin for a publicly funded recount.

Election results are not official until certified by the state canvassing board. That is scheduled to occur Nov. 21.

Republicans gained seats on the Iron Range, the St. Peter area, and Winona to turn the 70-64 DFL advantage in the House during the 2023-24 session into a dead heat. A DFL special election victory in Senate District 45 means the party will retain its one-seat majority in that body.

An evenly-divided House would be nearly unprecedented in the state’s history, occurring just once previously.

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“We would prefer to have the majority, and I know the Republicans would prefer to have the majority, but this is a golden opportunity to show people that we can get along and we can get things done,” House Speaker Melissa Hortman (DFL-Brooklyn Park) said during an afternoon news conference.

House Minority Leader Lisa Demuth (R-Cold Spring), who said early Wednesday in a post on the social media platform X that, “House Republicans broke the Democrat trifecta and restored balance to Minnesota,” also expressed a willingness to work across the aisle.

“This is a perfect opportunity for us to work together with our Democrat colleagues and bring civility back where there has been a lack of that,” Demuth said at a news conference. “… Our priority is restoring the transparency and accountability in the state of Minnesota.”

Both leaders said they have spoken briefly with one another about what a power-sharing agreement could look like. Those talks are expected to resume soon, they said.

The DFL caucus plans to meet Thursday evening to elect its leaders for the upcoming session. Republicans have a similar meeting scheduled Friday morning.

Demuth said the leaders chosen at those meetings could then resume negotiations.

“It's going to take full cooperation in how we choose to do our House rules, joint rules," she said. "All of that will be looked at in a way that will work best for everyone."

Hortman said the DFL has started looking around the country at other jurisdictions that have dealt with a tied legislature. There are many models to choose from, she said, adding that a power-sharing agreement could be an opportunity to modernize the rules and help the House operate more efficiently.

“Everything would have to be pre-negotiated before it got to the [House Floor] because there's really no sense in going to the floor and having a long debate and tying 67-67,” she said. “… There might be some process improvements that are good for all the human beings who work in this building, and not just the members.”

The 2025 session will begin Jan. 14 at noon; it must end by May 19.

-Jon Mohr and Mike Cook contributed to this story