Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon presided over the House chamber on Jan. 27, 2025, as Democrats continued to boycott the Capitol. Photo by Michelle Griffith/Minnesota Reformer.
Negotiations to resolve a power struggle for control of the Minnesota House have stalled, which likely means a continued boycott by Democratic-Farmer-Labor members that’s now more than two weeks old.
The new normal in the House, which is currently home to 67 Republicans and 66 Democrats: Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon, presiding over a half-empty chamber, asks members to bow their heads in prayer; members and staff then recite the Pledge of Allegiance; members take attendance on a roll call; and Simon declares that there are not enough members present to conduct business.
Republican House leader Lisa Demuth, R-Cold Spring, told reporters Wednesday that she didn’t meet with Democratic leader Melissa Hortman, DFL-Brooklyn Park, and had no plans to do so again in the near future.
“There were no meetings today with Rep. Hortman. That is a change over the last few days,” Demuth said. Hortman and Demuth had been meeting daily since Friday, after the Minnesota Supreme Court ruled that the House needed 68 members for a quorum.
By siding with Democrats, the court prevented Republicans from meeting and naming Demuth the speaker as long as Democrats continue to boycott. Republicans are using the absence of their Democratic colleagues as a political cudgel, saying Democrats aren’t showing up to work.
Both sides appear to be dug in: House Democrats want written assurance that Republicans will refrain from attempting to unseat one of their members. Republicans want to elect a speaker and control House committees for the next two years — even after a special election for an open seat in the north metro that’s expected to bring the chamber back to a tie.
Hortman told reporters on Tuesday that she was optimistic that she and Demuth would reach a deal by the end of the week, though she did hint that negotiations may stall.
“I tend to be a more optimistic person than pessimistic. I think that we both moved quite a bit from our initial positions,” Hortman said. “It’s usually darkest before the dawn. We certainly had some dark moments … over the first couple weeks of session, and I’m sure it will get darker again before we have the final breakthrough that gets us to the agreement.”
At stake is the status of Rep. Brad Tabke, a Shakopee Democrat who won his reelection by 14 votes in a contest marred by 20 missing ballots. A judge ruled in an advisory opinion that Tabke would have won anyway, and a do-over is not needed. The Minnesota Constitution grants the House the power to seat its own members, however, and Democrats fear Republicans will refuse to seat Tabke.
All 66 House Democrats have been boycotting the Capitol since Jan. 14 in an effort to deny Republicans a quorum and control of the chamber.