House Democrats absent to start session; GOP members carry on, choose speaker
DFL House members followed through on a threat to boycott the beginning of the legislative session in an attempt to deny a quorum on Tuesday, but Republicans elected Lisa Demuth as speaker anyway, ignoring Secretary of State Steve Simon’s declaration that no quorum was present.
The drama at the Capitol was the culmination of both parties wrestling over how to proceed with a temporary one-seat Republican majority pending a special election.
In the days following the November election, party leaders were brokering a power-sharing agreement in anticipation of a tied House of Representatives. Those negotiations broke down, however, when a judge’s order invalidated a DFL candidate’s election victory in House District 40B, tipping the tie to a 67-66 Republican majority.
The entire Democratic side of the House chambers was empty as the session got underway at noon.
The sergeant-at-arms called the secretary of state to preside over the chamber and call the House to order. Simon then appointed Rep. Peggy Scott, R-Andover, as the clerk pro tempore and called on a pastor to say a prayer.
After the Pledge of Allegiance, Scott held roll call, going down the list of 134 House districts in numerical order. A total of 67 members — all Republicans — voiced themselves as present, and Chief Judge of Appeals Jennifer Frisch swore them in from the dais.
Simon adjourned the House, finding there to be no quorum, despite objections from the House floor.
A motion to find the adjournment out of order was sustained, and Rep. Harry Niska, R-Ramsey, requested a new roll call to establish a quorum. A new presiding officer declared there to be a quorum present, and Republicans proceeded to elect Rep. Demuth, R-Cold Spring, as House speaker by a 67-0 vote with no DFL lawmakers present.
Demuth gave a speech following the vote but did not acknowledge her DFL colleagues’ absence.
“Today I stand before you not only as a representative but as a Minnesotan committed to working for the people who sent us here to do the work,” she said.
Top House Democrat Melissa Hortman of Brooklyn Park previously said her party would file a challenge in court if this scenario played out. She and other DFL House members held a news conference in Shakopee to condemn what they called a “sham” and an “attempted coup” by Republicans.
“Republicans did not have a quorum,” Hortman said. “The secretary of state has the authority to call the House to order — they completely ignored that and engaged in a sham proceeding unlike anything we could have imagined or have ever seen before.”
Later Tuesday afternoon, Simon said he would file a petition with the Minnesota Supreme Court on grounds that Republicans’ proceedings after he adjourned the House “were not legally legitimate.”
“I have made very clear to both caucuses and the public ahead of convening my legal conclusion that 68 members are required for the House to conduct business,” Simon said in a statement. “I anticipate that the courts will provide clarity both on that issue and on the understanding that the person who holds the Secretary of State’s office is the presiding officer until a Speaker is legally elected – an event which has not yet occurred.”
Gov. Tim Walz released the following statement on the first day of the legislative session:
“As much as House Republicans may want to govern as a single party, the law is the law and the House is not in session. House Republicans need to assure Minnesotans that they won’t overturn an election or take power voters didn’t give them. Once that common sense commitment is made, the important work that the House has in front of them can move forward.”
Also arising from Tuesday’s floor session was a resolution seeking to reset the clock on the special election in House District 40B. Gov. Tim Walz called a special election for Jan. 28 after Rep.-elect Curtis Johnson resigned the seat, but Republicans argue the governor was premature in doing so.
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Meanwhile, the Senate began the session Tuesday under less tumultuous, though still unusual circumstances, with Democrats and Republicans moving forward under a temporary power-sharing agreement while the Senate is at a temporary 33-33 tie.
A special election in Senate District 60 is scheduled for Jan. 28 to fill the vacant seat left behind by Sen. Kari Dziedzic, who died of cancer last month. A single red rose was at her desk on the Senate floor.
A primary election was underway in that race on Tuesday.