Minnesota Political Round-Up

Tonight, a Minnesota Supreme Court order canceling the Jan 28th special election

DULUTH, Minn. – As the sun sets on week one of the 2025 Minnesota Legislature, a partisan conflict is leading the House further into uncharted waters.

Friday afternoon, the Minnesota Supreme Court released an order canceling the January 28, 2025, special election for District 40B. The vacancy was created when the winning candidate, DFLer Curtis Johnson, was ruled ineligible for living outside the district.

The Supreme Court passed down its order in a lawsuit by the GOP-backed Voter Alliance against Governor Tim Walz, Secretary of State Steve Simon, and Ramsey County, which is tasked with facilitating elections in the district. Republicans accused Gov. Walz of violating state statute when he called the special election back in December.

In Friday’s order the Court said the Governor should have waited for the Legislature to convene, before calling a special election; citing 204D.19, subd. 4  :

If a vacancy results from a successful election contest, the governor shall issue 22 days after the first day of the legislative session a writ calling for a special election unless the house in which the contest may be tried has passed a resolution which states that it will or will not review the court’s determination of the contest. If the resolution states that the house will not review the court’s determination, the writ shall be issued within five days of the passage of the resolution.

Prior to the Court’s order, the 67-66 Republican majority in the House of Representatives was expected to last for the first two weeks of the session.

A boycott of House by the DFL, in an attempt to withhold a 68 member quorum, will now be open-ended until a new date is determined.