Following the November elections, Minnesota was poised to have a historic split legislature as the House would each have 67 members for the GOP and Democrats. Following years of Democratic destruction in our state, Minnesotans clearly voted for change. A highly motivated conservative electorate was mobilized by the Trump/Vance ticket which can be credited for Republicans outperforming Dems in several swing districts.

A power-sharing agreement was reached between Republican leader Lisa Demuth and longtime Dem leader Melissa Hortman (both are their party’s Speaker-designees) where each party would have an equal number of members on each Committee. Determinations and results of negotiations related to the House Speakership do not appear to be publicly available.

News broke yesterday that the Democrats lost a House seat after District Court Judge Leonardo Castro ruled that newly elected Democrat Curtis Johnson did not meet residence requirements for District 40B so the seat is to be vacant until the seat is filled according to the law (via a special election). See the Judge’s Order below:

Curtis Johnson attempted to carpetbag into a District, didn't actually live there, and got caught by his Republican opponent, Paul Wikstrom. This means that Republicans now hold a 67-66 MAJORITY in the State House!

District 40B is a Democrat strong-hold so this Majority could be short-lived and temporary. However, Republicans have the opportunity to leverage and expand their Majority with Johnson’s absence.

Now that House Republicans hold a Majority vote, they have every Right to elect a Republican House Speaker. Under the leadership of this Speaker, District 54A’s seat could be vacated by the Majority party refusing to recognize the election certification of Brad Tabke. Considering that Tabke won the race by only 14 votes and Scott County has admitted 20 ballots were thrown away (along with an additional missing ballot that they did not investigate), the error could mean that Tabke did not win the election at all. 

If Republicans are willing to play hard-ball starting on day 1, the rejection and expulsion of Tabke would bring the GOP to a 67-65 Majority. A special election in 54A would be especially noteworthy because it is a swing district, which could mean that the House would ultimately end up a 68-66 GOP Majority (including a likely Democrat win in the 40B special election).

Conservative House members must not allow the certification of Brad Tabke to ensure that Minnesota elections are free and fair. This is a winning issue that RINOs cannot get in the way of.

Minnesota House Republicans have the opportunity to claim power and reverse the left wing insanity that has been imposed on our state. When the Democrats have had power, they ramrod every radical policy imaginable through the Legislature and force their members to vote in lockstep. If Republicans act as cowards in this moment and do not FIGHT, the House will return to a “shared” and “equal” power structure. 

Right now is the only opportunity for Republicans to take and keep the Majority. If the Democrats are given an inch, they will always take a mile (or more). Voters can not trust Minnesota elections if Brad Tabke is allowed to serve in the House while evidence exists of (perhaps unintentional) election manipulation. The House GOP must decide if they want to save Minnesota or if they want to share power with radical Democrats.

For further reading, check out this article on the MN House website that describes the political battles that took place in 1979, the only other time in MN history that the House was perfectly split 67-67.