Minnesota Supreme Court finds state House Republicans' power grab unconstitutional

ST. PAUL (CN) — Minnesota’s state House Republicans’ election of a speaker with only 67 members present was unconstitutional, according to a new ruling issued Friday by the Minnesota Supreme Court.

The unsigned order says justices interpreted the Minnesota Constitution to mean that “a quorum requires a majority of the total number of seats of each house” and that vacancies do not reduce the number required for the quorum.

In Minnesota, the House of Representatives has 134 seats, meaning a quorum of 68 members is needed to conduct business.

Earlier this year, state House Republicans attempted to elect a speaker with only 67 members present after Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party House members refused to show up after power-sharing talks broke down.

The order should force Republicans back to the table for a power-sharing agreement, likely similar to the state Senate, which is also tied between the DFL and Republicans during what has become a contentious 2025 state House session.

While Nicholas Nelson of CrossCastle, who represented the state House Republicans in oral arguments before the court earlier this week, attempted to convince justices that Democrat House members solely caused the issue, the court seemingly ignored that premise in its three-page order, simply stating Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon had standing in the case and that the state Constitution was clear regarding what constitutes a quorum.

“Our resolution as to the meaning of the Minnesota Constitution’s quorum clause should be sufficient to resolve the issues raised by the petitions. ‘We assume that the parties will now conform to this opinion without the necessity of issuing a formal writ,’” the justices wrote in their order.

Minnesotans elected 67 Republicans and 67 DFLers to the state House during the 2024 election, which typically means a power-sharing deal would be implemented at the start of this year’s session.

Those talks fell apart after a judge determined earlier this month that a DFLer who won his seat in a heavily Democrat-leaning district did not live in the district. That left Republicans with a one-seat majority until a special election to fill his seat occurs.

While that one-seat majority means Republicans have the power right now to elect a speaker, Democrats attempted to subvert that power grab by refusing to attend the Legislature on its first day, denying Republicans the quorum needed to elect a speaker.

Simon’s position as secretary of state requires him to call the House of Representatives to order and preside over the House until a speaker is elected. With only 67 members present, Simon adjourned the House.

The Republicans pushed forward anyway and elected Representative Lisa Demuth, who served as the Republican leader for the last two years, as speaker.

The lawsuits filed by Simon and DFL Party Representative Melissa Hortman — along with other DFLers — following the illegitimate speaker election asked the court to declare the Republicans’ “improper and unlawful” actions unconstitutional.

Earlier this month, Demuth threatened to remove Simon as secretary of state if he attempted to block her election as speaker.

Additionally, questions surrounding the election of Scott County DFLer Brad Tabke, who won his seat by 14 votes in a district that lost 20 ballots, led Republicans to threaten not to seat him after earlier legal challenges against him failed.

Since then, Republicans have refused to say whether or not they would seat him if the DFL were to come back to the House.

Minnesota House Democrats have attempted to get around that threat by swearing in all of the party’s members during a secret ceremony the day before this year’s session was to begin, which Republicans have called “illegitimate.”

Further, GOP Representative Harry Niska, named as a respondent in one of the lawsuits, asked Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, a Democrat, to have the Minnesota State Patrol force Minnesota House DFLers to attend House sessions.