Minnesota’s House of Representatives was set to convene with all members present Thursday afternoon under a power-sharing deal that ended a weeks-long boycott of the session by Democratic-Farmer-Labor lawmakers.

Under the agreement announced by House leadership Wednesday night, Republicans will control the speakership until the end of 2026. Members are expected to elect Rep. Lisa Demuth, R-Cold Spring, to that position during the floor session.

There will be some constraints on Demuth’s power, including on appointments to state commissions, but the House GOP negotiation team said it was pleased with the outcome, which came after a 23-day House DFL no-show brought the legislative session to a near halt.

Rep. Lisa Lisa Demuth, R-Cold Spring. (John Autey / Pioneer Press)

“Having a Republican Speaker with very little limitations over the next two years is a huge win for Republicans,” Demuth told reporters Thursday morning. “It is a huge win for the state of Minnesota to have fraud not just talked about but actually addressed and corrected.”

Demuth will be the first Black speaker of the House and the first Republican woman to hold the position.

“I first want people to consider the fact that I’m qualified to do the job as speaker of the House in the state of Minnesota,” she said. “But I look forward to the day that it will no longer be a surprise or an unusual thing.”

Tie may return

Republicans also will control House committees while they continue to hold a one-seat majority over the DFL. However, when a 67-67 tie likely returns after a special election for a vacant seat next month, the parties will have co-chairs on committees which will be split evenly between the parties.

One exception to that will be a GOP-created committee aimed at addressing fraud and waste in state government, which will be chaired by a Republican even if a tie returns. It will have five Republicans and three Democratic members, not enough votes for Republicans to file subpoenas without DFL support.

Still, Republicans say they plan to move quickly to introduce legislation to address fraud, which was core to their campaign messaging last year. Pandemic-era fraud by nonprofits cost the state hundreds of millions of dollars in federal aid, prosecutors allege.

Republicans also agreed to seat DFL Rep. Brad Tabke, a Shakopee lawmaker whose election they disputed in court after 20 ballots went missing. A court ruled in Tabke’s favor, but Republicans would not commit to honoring the decision — driving House DFLers to boycott session while they had a one-seat disadvantage.

“This agreement honors and protects the will of the voters both in Shakopee and statewide,” said former House Speaker and DFL caucus leader Melissa Hortman. “That is what Democrats have been asking for from the beginning and I’m pleased that this agreement does that.”

Lingering anger

Melissa Hortman (Courtesty photo)

House DFLers and Republicans addressed reporters in separate news conferences on Thursday morning, prompting questions about whether the quorum dispute will do any lasting damage to relationships between lawmakers of either party.

Both sides admitted it will take time before trust can be reestablished.

“I think we’ll be able to work together well, but it will take some time,” Hortman said. ”Certainly everybody’s still pretty angry at each other.”

Demuth had a similar answer.

“We know there’s a lot of work to do, and we are going to have to mend fences and build some bridges so that we can work together well,” she said.

What led up to this?

November’s election resulted in a 67-67 tie between the DFL and Republicans, and the sides were negotiating a power-sharing agreement ahead of session.

But now the DFL is one seat down after a candidate in Roseville, Curtis Johnson, was disqualified for not living in the district he ran to represent.

Johnson defeated his GOP opponent by 30 points, so the House tie is expected to  return after a special election on March 11.

Republicans still tried to use the opportunity to take control of committees, introduce bills and elect Demuth as speaker when the Legislature convened on Jan. 14.

Then DFLers challenged them in the Supreme Court and won in January, nullifying Republican actions.

The court said the House can’t move forward with business without at least 68 members — a majority of the 134 total seats. Republicans had argued they only needed a majority of 133 current members but lost.

That led to a situation where the House was stalled because there were only 67 Republicans present.

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