Minnesota House Democrats are threatening to boycott the first two weeks of the legislative session over a power struggle with Republicans. The Democrats argue that the House is likely to be tied after a special election in January and that both parties should govern with shared power. Republicans, however, maintain that they have the advantage until then and should be able to elect a speaker to control committees.
House Democrats in Minnesota's legislature are threatening to skip the first two weeks of the legislative session starting Jan. 14, deepening political discord, the Minnesota Star Tribune reported. If the Democrats fail to show up, Republicans won't have the quorum — meaning the minimum number of people required — that they need to legislate, the Star Tribune reported.
At the same time, Republicans are weighing whether they should use their one-seat advantage in the House to refuse to seat a Democratic representative whose election victory is being challenged in court. Originally, the Minnesota House was set to be evenly divided between Republicans and Democrats, but a judge in the state ruled in December that newly-elected Democrat, Curtis Johnson, wasn't eligible for his seat because he didn’t live in his Roseville-area district. A special election to fill the seat will be held on Jan. 28, but Republicans will have the advantage until then. It is assumed that the Democratic-Farmer-Labor (DFL) party leaders would return to the legislative session if a Democrat were to win the special election, putting the House at a 67-67 tie. Republicans were hoping to elect a speaker with their advantage in order to control the House committees for the next two years, but House DFL Leader Melissa Hortman said the parties should govern with shared power since the chamber is likely to be tied again after the special election. 'If there is no power-sharing agreement, we will not be here,' Hortman said during a news conference at the State Capitol on Monday. But Republican leaders disagree, arguing there isn't currently a tie and that they can reach a quorum on their own since there will be 144 chamber members until the special election in January
Minnesota Legislature Power Struggle Democrats Republicans Special Election
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