Hopes for bipartisan comity at the state Capitol this year — forced upon the Minnesota House by the voters, who sent 67 Democrats and 67 Republicans to the Capitol — are already crashing.
Minnesota State Capitol.
House Democrats are mulling not showing up for the first two weeks of the legislative session to prevent the chamber from achieving a 68-member quorum, according to lobbyists who’ve spoken to members and confirmed by two DFL legislative sources. Doing so would effectively shut down the House as Democrats seek to block Republicans from using their temporary, 1-seat advantage to elect a GOP House speaker.
More: Republican Rep. Lisa Demuth expected to be next Minnesota House speaker
The gambit would attract national media attention and likely lead to a political and legal firestorm.
State Rep. Melissa Hortman, DFL-Brooklyn Park, the Democratic-Farmer-Labor leader, declined to comment except to say that House Democrats “want a power sharing agreement we’ve spent 60 days negotiating, and we’d like Republicans to honor their agreement. Sixty-seven is not a majority.”
The backstory: Republicans took a temporary 67-66 advantage when DFL Rep.-elect Curtis Johnson resigned his District 40B seat late last month after a district judge determined he didn’t meet the legal residency requirement.
Gov. Tim Walz has called a special election for Jan. 28 to replace Johnson. Given the deep blue makeup of the Roseville-area 40B District, Democrats are expected to keep the seat. (Republicans sued Walz over the weekend, arguing the election must be at least 22 days after the beginning of the legislative session, which begins Jan. 14.)
Until a Democrat wins 40B, Republicans have a one-seat advantage and are poised to elect their House leader Rep. Lisa Demuth, R-Cold Spring, as the new speaker, when the Legislature convenes next week.
More: Walz announces departure of cannabis management director amid legal challenges, new year
Although Republicans need 68 votes to pass laws, they can install a speaker with 67, and Democrats won’t be able to remove her — even after the 40B special election brings the House back into a tie — assuming Republicans stick together as a caucus.
Democrats are considering their own maneuver: By not showing up, they can prevent the 68 members required for a quorum to do business.
Article 3, Section 13 of the Minnesota Constitution requires that “a majority of each house” — i.e., 68 House members — “constitutes a quorum to transact business.”
Two Capitol lobbyists, who were granted anonymity because they’re not authorized to speak publicly, said House Democrats are saying all options are on the table.
Two Democratic legislative sources confirmed that the quorum idea is among the options being considered.
On the downside, Democrats — especially first-year members — might have a hard time explaining to constituents why they are absent for two weeks during the legislative session.
If Democrats are absent, Republicans could use robust measures to force Democrats to appear. The Minnesota Constitution, in requiring 68 members for a quorum, says “a smaller number may … compel the attendance of absent members in the manner and under the penalties it may provide.”
Republicans say absent Democrats would also be subject to recall petitions for so-called nonfeasance, or as the statute reads, “the intentional, repeated failure of a state officer … to perform specific acts that are required duties of the officer.” In this case, showing up at the Legislature could be considered a required duty of the office.
Republicans dispute Democrats’ interpretation of the constitution’s quorum rule. “The Minnesota Constitution does not set 68 as the quorum…. On January 14, there will be (at most) 133 members of the Minnesota House, so a quorum is 67 members,” wrote Rep. Harry Niska, R-Ramsey, on X.
Democrats are also considering a de facto filibuster, eating up clock for the first two weeks of the session, preventing a vote on speakership until the special election brings the chamber back into 67-67 balance.
Aside from Demuth winning the speakership and the pomp and privileges it carries, Republicans in the current composition would also be able to claim committee chairmanships, rather than sharing them with Democrats, as had been previously agreed to during power-sharing negotiations in which Demuth and Hortman have been engaged since the November election.
A major concern for Democrats is the status of Rep.-elect Brad Tabke, who won a Shakopee-area district by 14 votes. Republicans challenged the election results over 20 missing ballots that were accidentally discarded, and a judge is expected to issue a ruling soon.
More: Minnesota lawmakers join in formalizing historic Trump victory
Regardless of the judiciary ruling, however, the Minnesota Constitution gives the House and Senate the power to seat members and rule on election contests: “Each house shall be the judge of the election returns and eligibility of its own members. The Legislature shall prescribe by law the manner for taking evidence in cases of contested seats in either house.”
The statute the Legislature crafted to deal with disputed elections specifically says “a majority of the votes given decides the issue.” (Emphasis added.)
In other words, only needing a majority of votes rather than a majority of the 134-member House, Republicans could refuse to seat Tabke with their 1-vote temporary advantage.
In that case, Republicans still would not be able to pass any laws without a 68-seat majority, but they’d retain their 1-seat advantage, at least temporarily.
By refusing to seat Tabke, Republicans could pressure Walz into calling a special election in that district, which would give Republicans a chance at an actual 68-vote majority.
Refusing to provide a quorum has been a common tactic in recent political history, perhaps owing to the nation’s increasing polarization.
Texas Democrats hopped on a plane to Washington, D.C. in 2021 to prevent Republicans there from enacting laws Democrats deemed gross violations of voting rights.
Oregon Republicans have also used the tactic, though with at-times disastrous results.
Another Republican famously sought to prevent a quorum, though he was a Whig at the time: Abraham Lincoln went out a window of Illinois’ temporary legislative chambers in 1840 to prevent a quorum and block Democrats from passing a bill that threatened the state bank. As Snopes reported, “While Lincoln’s escape was dramatic, it was not successful. The quorum stood and the legislation was approved.”
Minnesota Reformer is part of States Newsroom, the nation’s largest state-focused nonprofit news organization.
J. Patrick Coolican is Editor-in-Chief of Minnesota Reformer.
Reformer Deputy Editor Max Nesterak contributed reporting.
This article originally appeared on St. Cloud Times: DFL considers not attending legislative session until special election
