This session has so far been shaped by several unexpected and unprecedented detours. Here’s a recap of what’s happened since election day:

Detour #1 – most of the razor-thin MN House races were decided in the DFL’s favor, but one remains in dispute. Rep. Brad Tabke, DFL-Shakopee, won reelection by 14 votes, but there are 20 ballots missing and reported to have been thrown in the trash. The DFL produced a few voters who they claim were those whose votes were discarded, and, of course, most of them said they were voting for Tabke. That was good enough for a judge, who ruled the election valid, but not good enough for Republicans, who are threatening to unseat him, giving them a theoretical one-seat majority.
Detour #2 – while detour #1 features suspected malfeasance, detour #2 is confirmed malfeasance. Democrat Curtis Johnson won the 40B seat by a wide margin but was found not to live in the district, meaning he was ineligible to represent it. Mr. Johnson was caught despite his best efforts to conceal this fact. He had take-out delivered to a house within the district rented in his name but failed to ever turn on the utilities – a clear sign that he wasn’t actually living there. Johnson essentially admitted fault by declining to appeal the court decision vacating his election.

These situations left Republicans with 67 members and the DFL with 66. Democrats claimed that 68 members were needed for a majority, while Republicans claimed 67 were needed, since only 133 House seats were held by members. On Friday, January 24th, the Minnesota Supreme Court (all six of whose members were appointed by DFL governors) ruled in favor of the DFL, which invalidated everything done in the first week and a half of session.

Does that mean Democrats will show up for work? Probably not! I can’t think of any other job that you could keep if you didn’t show up for two months—but House Democrats think this is exactly what they can do. (Note: as I write this, Republicans have launched statewide recall efforts against all 66 DFL representatives who have failed to show up for work--more on this as it happens).

While the open seat in district 40B is likely a safe seat for the DFL, the special election scheduled for January 28th was recently postponed due to a separate court challenge that argued that the Governor violated the Minnesota Constitution in fast-tracking it. The Supreme Court agreed (somewhat surprisingly) and the special election is now postponed until sometime in March, at the earliest.

When the dust finally settles, we will likely be back where we started, with no trifecta, a razor-thin DFL majority in the Senate, and a tie in the House. In that environment, the groups that can best navigate the relational politics will get the most done.

This is, of course, our sweet spot. We have built relationships on both sides of the aisle, particularly and especially through the Church Ambassador Network. While we agree more often with those on one side, we have respectful and warm relationships with almost every elected official. Those relationships matter.

We can get meetings that some elected officials and lobbyists cannot, because they haven’t been kind, considerate or respectful.

That means we have tremendous opportunities this session on both offense and defense. The last two sessions have been all about limiting the damage, and there may be more of that to come. While the misnamed-Equal Rights Amendment and Physician-Assisted Suicide will be back, we will be working to ensure they don’t go far.

On offense, we will continue to look for common ground on our priorities, knowing that just one or two swing votes can make all the difference. It’s sure to be a lively legislative season, once the House actually convenes!

To support our relationship-based legislative efforts, please consider a special gift of $25, $50, $100 or even more, as the Lord leads.