Gov. Tim Walz has scheduled a special election — again — for a vacant Roseville-area House seat.

The House District 40B special election will take place March 11, with a primary on Feb. 25 if needed.

The vacancy arose from a judge ruling that DFL Rep.-elect Curtis Johnson was ineligible for office because he did not properly establish residency in the district. Choosing not to appeal the judge’s decision, Johnson resigned and Walz set a special election for Jan. 28 to fill the seat.

Republicans soon raised another challenge, arguing that Walz was premature in calling the special election. The Minnesota Supreme Court ruled in their favor.

Under Minnesota law, the governor must wait 22 days from the start of the legislative session to call a special election for a vacancy arising from a successful election contest. The writ of special election issued on Wednesday indeed comes 22 days after Jan. 14, when the 2025 legislative session got underway.

The window to submit affidavits of candidacy and nominating petitions to the Secretary of State’s Office runs from Thursday through 5 p.m. Tuesday.

Before the Jan. 28 special election was called off, two candidates had filed for the race: Republican Paul Wikstrom, who ran against Johnson in 2024, and Democrat David Gottfried.

House Democrats — who have so far denied Republicans a quorum by boycotting the legislative session — are confident they’ll regain the seat in a solid-blue district, bringing the chamber to a 67-67 tie. Republicans, meanwhile, hope to flip the seat and gain their first House majority since 2018.