Court Sides With Democrats in Fight Over Control of Minnesota House

Minnesota’s Supreme Court ruled on Friday that Republicans in the state’s House had lacked a quorum to conduct business last week while Democratic representatives were absent, boycotting the opening days of the state’s legislative session.

The decision marked the second time the state’s highest court has been drawn into a dispute over control of the Legislature in recent days — one indication of the tumult that has played out in Minnesota’s Capitol as the parties vie for control.

Its chaotic start has underscored the challenging political landscape Gov. Tim Walz returned home to face. In addition to losing his bid for the vice presidency, his party lost its narrow majority in the Minnesota House.

In Friday’s ruling, the court said Republicans were one seat short of the 68 lawmakers required to conduct business on the House floor. Over the objections of Minnesota’s secretary of state, Republican lawmakers opened the session unilaterally last week and elected their House leader, Representative Lisa Demuth, as speaker.

The ruling appeared to render that appointment null, forcing party leaders to go back to the negotiating table as they awaited the result of a special election that was widely expected to leave each party with an equal number of seats in the chamber.

Democrats lost their majority in the state House in November, when each party won 67 seats, leaving them tied. Party leaders reached a tentative power-sharing agreement after the election. But the deal unraveled in December after a judge determined that one of the newly elected Democrats had not met the residency requirements to run for his seat.