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Dear friends,

As you may have read in the news, we are living through very interesting times at the Minnesota Legislature. I wanted to provide you with a brief explanation of what is going on, as well as my thoughts on how we should move forward.

In the election last November, the people of Minnesota elected 67 Democrats and 67 Republicans. A tied House such as this is not unprecedented, last occurring in 1979. In the weeks following the election, there was reason for optimism that this tie could result in a bipartisan power sharing agreement that would govern the House. The leaders of the DFL House Caucus and the GOP House Caucus even agreed on a committee structure, complete with equal membership between the parties and co-chairs.

Unfortunately, as we approached the New Year, things began to get bumpy. The member-elect from District 40B was found by a judge to be ineligible to take office. That member-elect resigned, appropriately in my view, and a special election for his seat has been scheduled for January 28.  It is a heavily DFL district, and most observers expect the DFL candidate to prevail.  Until then, the House has 67 Republicans and 66 DFLers. Initially, I was not terribly concerned about this.  The early part of the session is generally low-key.  Most of the time is spent getting bills drafted, working with stakeholders, and listening to presentations from the Administration.  Few, if any, bills would be expected to pass in the first two weeks of session even if one party had complete control of government.  For example, in the historically productive 2023 session, only one bill reached the Governor’s desk by the end of the second week of session.

However, House Republican leader Lisa Demuth has recently taken some positions that I view as extreme.  First, she said that the House Republicans would vote to unseat Rep Brad Tabke (DFL-Shakopee), regardless of the outcome of his court review of his election.  Rep. Tabke was re-elected by an exceedingly small margin, only 14 votes.  Unfortunately, elections officials discovered that they had accidentally lost 20 absentee ballots before they were counted.  Rep. Tabke’s Republican challenger Aaron Paul filed an election contest in court, which went to trial in December.  At that trial, elections officials testified that they had identified the 20 people who cast the lost ballots.  Twelve of those voters came to court and testified.  Six said they voted for the Republican, and six said they voted for Rep. Tabke.  As a result, even if the remaining eight voters cast ballots for Mr. Paul, Rep. Tabke won the election.  Leader Demuth’s position that Republicans would overturn a legitimate election in which over 20,000 votes were cast is totally unacceptable to me.

Second, Leader Demuth has said that she would not honor the power sharing agreement she negotiated just weeks ago in November even if the DFL candidate prevails in the special election on January 28, which would return the House to a 67-67 tie.  Leader Demuth is taking the position that Republicans should run the House for two years, even though they will only have a one seat advantage for two weeks.  That is unreasonable.

So we find ourselves in something of a constitutional crisis, with one caucus leader committed to overturning an election and seizing power.  Dark days indeed.  I view it as my duty to use all of the legitimate tools at my disposal to prevent Rep. Tabke’s election from being wrongfully overturned.  Our elections must be administered in a fair and nonpartisan basis, not disregarded just because the result is inconvenient to a partisan agenda.  That is why I and many of my colleagues are prepared to deny the Minnesota House quorum for the first two weeks of session.  Under the Minnesota Constitution, the House cannot function unless a quorum of members are present.  Under longstanding Minnesota law and practice, a quorum constitutes a majority of the whole House, or 68 members.  Since there are only 67 Republican members, at least one DFL member must attend session or the House cannot act.  This may be the only way to prevent Leader Demuth from overturning Rep. Tabke’s election.

But I am hopeful, even as I write this in the hours before the session begins, that we can end the crisis through negotiation.  There is an easy solution.  The House should commit to letting Rep. Tabke serve his term.  Republicans should run the chamber as the majority party until the special election on January 28.  If that election results in a 67-67 tie, we should return to the power sharing agreement that both parties agreed to just weeks ago. This is the common sense solution.

I am speaking to my Republican colleagues about this, and I have found many to be open-minded to the idea.  There are reasonable people in both parties, and I hope and expect that those reasonable voices will carry the day.

If we are forced to deny quorum, I will spend the first two weeks of session doing almost all of the work I would be doing in a normal session.  I will be drafting bills, meeting with constituents, meeting with local elected officials, and reviewing materials provided by the Walz Administration.  The only thing I will not be doing is attending floor sessions. 

I do not relish this prospect.  There is no reason why we should not be able to reach a reasonable agreement to start session normally, and I will work hard until such an agreement is reached.

Please continue to reach out anytime if you need assistance or have questions at [email protected] or 651-296-5513.

It’s an honor to represent our Coon Rapids and Anoka families in St. Paul.

Sincerely,

 

Rep. Zack Stephenson

Minnesota House of Representatives 






State Representative Zack Stephenson

5th Floor, Centennial Office Building
658 Cedar St.
St. Paul, MN 55155
651-296-5513
www.house.mn.gov/members/profile/15507
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