5 things to know about the chaotic start to Minnesota’s 2025 legislative session

Minnesota’s 2025 legislative session got off to an unusual start Tuesday as half of the House of Representatives stood empty while Democrats boycotted the first day of business.

The political maneuver was meant to deny Republicans a quorum, or the minimum number of members present to conduct business. Democrats sought to block Republicans from using a temporary one-seat majority to elect a House speaker and control committees for the next two years, and from refusing to seat a DFLer whose election victory they contested in court.

With no Democrats present Tuesday, Secretary of State Steve Simon, who must serve as the House’s presiding officer following an election, ruled there wasn’t a quorum and adjourned.

That didn’t stop Republicans, who disregarded Simon’s ruling and restarted proceedings to elect their leader as House speaker. Democrats and Simon said the GOP actions were illegitimate and filed lawsuits with the state Supreme Court in response.

Here are five things to know about the start of the legislative session and what to expect going forward.

The biggest sticking point keeping House Democrats away from the Capitol seems to be the status of DFL Rep. Brad Tabke. Republicans contested Tabke’s 14-vote election victory in court after Scott County elections officials lost 20 absentee ballots in one precinct. A Dakota County judge upheld the Shakopee-area Democrat’s victory in a highly anticipated ruling Tuesday, but House Republicans have signaled they might try to refuse to seat Tabke anyway and order a new election.

Democrats held a private swearing-in ceremony Sunday in order to circumvent the quorum rules and deny Republicans the ability to force the chamber to start business.

House DFL Leader Melissa Hortman has said Democrats will still meet with constituents and work with staff to draft bills while away from the Capitol. They’ll continue collecting their taxpayer-funded salaries, she said.

The House was tied 67-67 after the November election, but the GOP has a temporary majority after a judge ruled in December that the winner of a Roseville-area seat did not actually live in the district and thus had to drop out.

Gov. Tim Walz called a special election to fill that seat on Jan. 28. If a deal isn’t struck before then, Hortman said she expects House Democrats will return to the State Capitol on Feb. 3, after the special election for the Roseville-area seat presumably returns the chamber to a tie.

Republicans elected their leader, Rep. Lisa Demuth of Cold Spring, as speaker on Tuesday, but it’s unclear whether the move was valid.

“There is serious work that needs to be done here in the state of Minnesota,” Demuth said after the session adjourned Tuesday. “We look forward to when our Democratic colleagues choose to join us and choose to represent the areas voters have elected them.”

Simon filed a petition with the Minnesota Supreme Court afterwards, asking it to declare the GOP actions invalid.

“Because the House has not yet had a quorum, the Secretary remains the House’s presiding officer and Representative Demuth does not currently have authority to serve as speaker,” Simon wrote.

House Republicans are holding another floor session and some committee meetings Wednesday.

The unprecedented situation is headed to court. It will likely come down to the matter of what constitutes a quorum in the House.

While Democrats and Simon, who is also a DFLer, say the chamber needs 68 members present to conduct business, Republicans claims the magic number is 67.

With the vacant Roseville-area seat, the House only has 133 seated members at the moment. Republicans say a quorum should be half that number, plus one. Democrats contend that state rules refer to the total number of members that belong in the House.

Simon says his party affiliation does not affect his interpretation of the state statute.

The first day of session went smoothly for the Minnesota Senate, as members approved a power-sharing agreement negotiated in recent days by DFL Leader Erin Murphy and GOP Leader Mark Johnson.

The Senate is tied 33-33 after the death of Sen. Kari Dziedzic, DFL-Minneapolis. Democrats are expected to resume control of the Senate after a Jan. 28 special election to fill her safely blue seat.

Medtronic employee Doron Clark won the DFL primary to replace Dziedzic on Tuesday night, all but ensuring he’ll win the election to take her place in the chamber.

While on the floor Tuesday, senators gave personal tributes to Dziedzic, who died of ovarian cancer in late December. They also lauded themselves for their comity in contrast to the House.

“Our commitment is to continue to work together,” said Sen. Bobby Joe Champion, DFL-Minneapolis.

The upcoming felony burglary trial for Sen. Nicole Mitchell, DFL-Woodbury, could be delayed if the senator’s lawyers get their way. They filed a motion Friday seeking to postpone her trial until late May after the legislative session ends.

Mitchell is accused of breaking into her stepmother’s house last year and is the target of a pending Republican ethics complaint. She could again be the deciding vote for Senate Democrats if she continues to serve.

Johnson, the Senate Republican leader, said the possible trial postponement “further delays an orderly Senate session as she continues to bring the reputation of the Senate into disrepute.”

“Senate Republicans stand by our previous votes to not allow her to vote, to not count her vote and to remove her from the body,” he said.