Hello from the State Capitol,
As we get ready for the start of the 2025 legislative session, we have news that Democrats in the Minnesota House might not show up.
After Election Day, the scorecard showed that 67 Republicans and 67 Democrats would make up the Minnesota House in 2025. However, Democrats got caught cheating. 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.
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.
It is interesting how Democrat leadership has continued to say they are looking forward to working with Republicans this year – after years of ignoring any Republican suggestions while operating under one-party rule – but when the numbers are no longer in their favor, they claim they will not work at all unless they get their way.
Oh, and they’ve also said they plan to collect their legislative paychecks even if they don’t show up in St. Paul, meaning you’ll get to pay for their partisan tantrum.
The Democrats handpicked a candidate who, through the courts, was proven not to live in the district. Their actions put them into the minority, yet they are mad they were caught. This is why people scream about election integrity, and why actions like this do nothing but erode it.
On January 14, I plan on going to work as the constituents of 21B elected me to do. I hope all the Democrat state representatives, who were also elected to serve the people of Minnesota and plan to collect their state-issued paychecks, will join me.
Have a good weekend,
Marj