Judge rules DFL House candidate ineligible, throwing majority to GOP for now

A newly elected Democrat failed to meet the residency requirement and is ineligible to serve in the Minnesota House of Representatives, a Ramsey County district judge ruled Friday in a decision that will shift partisan power in St. Paul, at least for a time, to Republicans.

Judge Leonardo Castro ruled in favor of Republican Paul Wikstrom, who contested the election victory of DFLer Curtis Johnson. Wikstrom alleged that Johnson didn’t live in the Rice Street apartment he had rented in early 2024 to establish residency in the Roseville-area House district.

“Johnson’s failure to maintain a residence in District 40B for the entire six months prior to the election was a deliberate, serious, and material violation of Minnesota election law,” Castro wrote in his 32-page order that barred the DFLer from taking office.

The six-month residency requirement is “not a suggestion nor an inconvenience,” Castro wrote.

The district is heavily DFL. Johnson beat Wikstrom by 30 percentage points. But if there is a special election to fill the open seat, it won’t occur until after the legislative session begins Jan. 14. That means Republicans would gain temporary control of the chamber by one vote and the ability to elect a speaker and control majorities on committees.

“When there’s not a tie, we don’t need power-sharing,” said House GOP leader and Speaker-designate Lisa Demuth. “The intent would be, we would elect a speaker and we would structure things when we’re in the majority.”

Current House Speaker Melissa Hortman, DFL-Brooklyn Park, said the DFL will ask the Minnesota Supreme Court to consider Castro’s decision and that she expects the ruling to be reversed. She said residency issues must be resolved before an election.

“The Republicans are seeking to do in court what they were unable to do at the ballot box,” Hortman said in a statement. “Curtis Johnson won District 40B by 7,503 votes, and no court should lightly overturn the will of the voters.”

Until Friday, the Minnesota House was expected to be tied at 67 DFLers and 67 Republicans for the first time since 1979. Democrats and Republicans had been negotiating power-sharing agreements and had agreed on House committee membership but those discussions were paused because of this court case and another pending in Scott County.

In yet another complicating twist, it takes 68 votes to pass a bill in the House, meaning the GOP would need at least one DFL vote to pass anything.

The DFL controls the Senate by one vote and Gov. Tim Walz is also a Democrat. In an early sign of how this will play out, state GOP outreach director Walter Hudson, who is also a House member from Albertville, posted his “full statement” in response to the ruling; a wordless video of him laughing.

Johnson and the DFL faced a second loss Friday as the state Supreme Court rejected an appeal already pending there on the issue of timeliness. Johnson claimed Wikstrom didn’t file his objection soon enough. Chief Justice Natalie Hudson issued a one-sentence order rejecting that appeal. Johnson can still raise the issue in his request to the high court for a full hearing on Castro’s decision.

Wikstrom’s lawyer, Erick Kaardal, said he was “thankful for Castro applying the law fairly.” Johnson’s lawyers didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.

Castro addressed the issue of timeliness in his ruling, saying that Wikstrom waited a reasonable amount of time to investigate his opponent’s residency.

The judge, the former chief public defender in Hennepin County, said Wikstrom waited until late August or early September — after he had developed a “legitimate and well-founded suspicion” that Johnson didn’t live in the district.

Castro’s ruling was an affirmation of Wikstrom’s extensive surveillance. The court case involved some 300 exhibits, including video and still images.

Johnson already owns and lives in a home in Little Canada, which is outside the district he sought to represent. Johnson has said he and his family were searching for a “forever home” in the district but had struggled to find one, so he rented the apartment.

Castro noted that Johnson never hooked up internet in the apartment even though he works remotely. Castro found that based on the totality of the evidence, Johnson spent “scant time” in the apartment until Oct. 15 when Wikstrom released an ad questioning the DFLer’s residency.

The judge wrote that he found it troubling and revealing that Johnson’s behavior changed after that date. That, coupled with his court testimony, revealed “his awareness that his physical presence in District 40B prior to Oct. 15 was insufficient to establish residency,” Castro wrote.

Another election challenge is pending in Scott County District Court over the re-election of Rep. Brad Tabke, DFL-Shakopee. House Republicans have filed a lawsuit contesting the results, saying that election officials engaged in “deliberate, serious and material violations” of state law when they lost 21 ballots yet declared Tabke the winner by 14 votes.

“Election integrity isn’t partisan, it is just part of the process,” Demuth said.

She also said the GOP is prepared to lead the chamber. “The minimum is no tax increases. We cannot be putting more on Minnesotans,” she said, adding that the party will also be looking to address “rampant fraud and lack of accountability.”

Ryan Faircloth contributed to this report.