ST. PAUL — The Minnesota House of Representatives opened its 2025 legislative session with drama on Tuesday, with half the chamber empty as DFL lawmakers made good on their threat to boycott the session, a move they said was necessary to prevent Republicans from taking undue advantage of a temporary one-seat majority to seize control.
No quorum, no problem
The session started routinely, with Secretary of State Steve Simon gaveling the chamber to order, and Republican members being sworn in. DFL members held a separate swearing-in ceremony on Sunday. But after a roll call confirmed only 67 Republicans were present, one short of the 68 needed for a majority of the 134-member House, Simon declared that there was no quorum and adjourned the session, ruling that no business could proceed.
Republicans, however, immediately took control of the session. Rep. Paul Anderson, R-Starbuck, quickly stepped in as acting presiding officer, while Rep. Harry Niska, R-Ramsey, moved to overturn Simon’s adjournment, declaring a quorum present. Anderson then oversaw the election of Rep. Lisa Demuth, R-Cold Spring, as speaker of the House.
“The Minnesota people are counting on us today — not for partisan victories or for political theater but for real results that improve their daily lives,” Demuth said in her acceptance speech.
DFL cries foul
While Republicans celebrated their moves, Democrats decried the hijacked session as illegitimate. “What Republicans did in the Minnesota House chamber today is absolutely stunning,” House DFL Leader Melissa Hortman, DFL-Brooklyn Park, said. “They clearly lost on quorum, and they just couldn’t handle it. So, they had to have a fake House of Representatives.”
Democrats issued a statement denouncing the proceedings as “a sham” and said that the matter will be taken to the Minnesota Supreme Court, asserting that several statutes governing the Legislature were violated.
Interviewed by KSTP News, Hamline University political science professor David Schulz was harshly critical of the dispute between the parties.
“What we’re now asking is for the Supreme Court to play parent to the children who are in the state Legislature,” Schulz said.
Quorum debate
Central to the chaos is a dispute over the definition of a quorum. Democrats argue the House needs 68 members present to conduct business, reflecting a majority of the 134 seats. Republicans, however, claim that with one seat vacant, only 67 members — a majority of the 133 currently seated members — are needed.
Demuth stood by the Republicans’ actions, emphasizing their temporary majority.
“We’re recognizing the basic math and the reality of 67 and 66,” she said. “If we return to a tie after the special election, we can re-engage in tied conversations.”
Tabke’s tight victory
Inflaming the controversy is the contested reelection of Rep. Brad Tabke, DFL-Shakopee. Tabke’s 14-vote victory was challenged after 20 absentee ballots were lost in one precinct. A judge upheld his win on Tuesday morning, but Republicans suggested they might still refuse to seat him, citing the missing ballots. Their resistance is believed to have been a dealbreaker in failed negotiations for a power-sharing arrangement wanted by the DFL that would have avoided the boycott.
“If any of our members had entered the Capitol today, all of these voters’ votes would have been revoked,” Tabke said after the ruling.
Special election looms
The balance of power now hinges on a Jan. 28 special election for a seat in Roseville, left vacant after the election of the DFL candidate was nullified by a judge who agreed with Republican litigants that the candidate did not live in the district. An almost certain DFL win in a special election would restore the House to the 67-67 tie. If a Republican would win, that would solidify their majority.
Hortman made it clear that Democrats won’t return to the House chamber until after the special election.
“We acknowledge that there is an imbalance right now and that they have an edge,” she said. “They just don’t have enough human beings to convene the House or to pass a bill.”
What happens next
Legal challenges are a certainty. Simon’s office confirmed plans to petition the Minnesota Supreme Court to rule on the legitimacy of Tuesday’s actions. Democrats are also preparing lawsuits, with Hortman calling the GOP’s moves an “astonishing attempt to grab power.”
Republicans planned to hold another session on Wednesday to ratify the work of the Rules Committee, which also met on Tuesday without Democrats present. The Rules Committee meets at the start of each legislative session to lay out the parameters that govern the work of the chamber.