Monday afternoon the Minnesota Republican Party discussed its petition related to a special election planned for a State House of Representatives seat in District 40B.

They want the state’s Supreme Court to step in and stop the special election called by Governor Tim Walz for later this month.

Right now, Republicans have a one-seat majority in the State House — but there’s also a vacant seat, previously held by a Democrat. Curtis Johnson won the race for the seat in the November election, but he was later disqualified when a judge ruled he didn’t actually live in that district.

The 2025 legislative session is set to start Jan. 14, and Walz called for the special election to take place Jan. 28.

Republicans are saying the earliest that the special election should happen is Feb. 5 because state law requires waiting 22 days after the session to make that decision. In response, Walz says that state law requires him to call a special election as soon as possible and that “Republicans are trying to use the courts to prevent democratic legislators from being seated.”

Read the lawsuit in full below.