Hello from the State Capitol,
We heard troubling news from Minnesota House Democrats this week, as they are threatening to not show up for the first day of the 2025 legislative session, which begins on Tuesday.
The reason – they are upset that they will be the minority party next week.
After Election Day, 67 Republicans and 67 Democrats were elected to serve in the Minnesota House in 2025. However, one of the Democrat Metro Area candidates ran for office even though he didn’t live in the district he was elected to represent – which is required by law. A court was asked to intervene, and a judge ordered that the candidate not be seated when session begins. The candidate has since stepped aside, creating what will be a 67 seat Republican, 66 seat Democrat House when lawmakers are sworn into office on January 14.
Because off this, House Republicans will do what a majority party does – elect a speaker and set the committee roster.
During a news conference on Monday, House Democrat leadership said that unless there is an equal power agreement between House Republicans and Democrats on Day 1, they will not show up to be sworn into office. In fact, they suggested they might not show up at all until after a special election is held to fill the now open seat. But they did say they will collect their paychecks even if they decide to stay home.
The important thing to remember here is that Democrats did this to themselves. They endorsed and supported a candidate who, as was very clearly proven in court, did not live in the district he wanted to represent. It is one of those “if you didn’t know, you should have known” moments, and either the ignorance, negligence or arrogance of Democrat leaders has put their party in the position of being in the minority in the Minnesota House.
It goes without saying that I will be showing up to work on Tuesday. We have a lot of work to be done, and I look forward to helping pass a budget this session that Minnesotans deserve. Hopefully, all the House Democrats will join me.