Election Recap: 67-67 Tie in the Minnesota House

by Sam Richie, AASP-MN Lobbyist

As the dust settles from the November general election and we piece together the national and statewide results, it appears that we will have some form of divided government in Minnesota, as the Minnesota House of Representatives is currently tied 67-67.

I caveat this statement because there is one state House race that is close enough to trigger automatic recount, so at the time of writing we are still not absolutely certain of the makeup of the state House. But since the race that is headed to a recount is currently in the hands of the DFL, if it were to flip, the GOP would have outright control of the state House. As it stands, the GOP will have ended the DFL’s trifecta of legislative control by gaining at least a share of power in the House. 

In the immediate aftermath of the election it appeared there would be two state House races that would be close enough to trigger an automatic recount, in St. Cloud and in Shakopee, but there were a number of absentee ballots that were not properly counted on election night in St. Cloud which pushed the margin out of the margin for an automatic recount. As for the Shakopee area seat, DFL incumbent Brad Tabke holds a miniscule 14-vote lead over Republican challenger Aaron Paul. For context and to drive home the point that every vote counts, that is a 14-vote lead out of roughly 22,000 votes cast. While it is possible that the result in Shakopee could change after the recount, it is exceedingly rare for a recount to change the outcome of a race, so we are likely looking at a tie in the House. 

How the two parties come to a power sharing arrangement remains to be seen, but it’s expected that we will have a split, with one party controlling the Speaker’s office and the other having control of the Rules committee; this would force the parties to work together before bills come to the House floor for final votes. It also appears likely that committee chairmanships will be split between the parties, and we may even see an even number of Democrats and Republicans on each committee. Normally, the majority party enjoys the advantage of having more of their members on each committee, which allows them to pass bills through committee without minority party votes. This change will have a huge impact on the operations in the House and means that bipartisan agreement will be required to move any bill out of committee. DFL and Republican House leaders are busy negotiating how this power sharing arrangement will work, a process being anxiously tracked by everyone with business before the legislature. 

On the state Senate side, the DFL will maintain their razor thin majority after narrowly holding on to the only seat that was on the ballot, the special election for Senate District 45. This seat was open after former DFL state Senator Kelly Morrison chose to resign in order to run for Congress, a seat she was able to win. This leaves the state Senate with the same 34-33 split that was in place over the previous two years, which includes DFL Senator Nicole Mitchell still controversially in her Woodbury area seat while facing legal proceedings stemming from her burglary charge from the spring. 

Governor Walz will return to Minnesota after he and Vice President Harris were unable to win the Presidential race, which means we are likely to have more continuity at the Commissioner level than we would have had if Lt. Governor Flanagan had ascended to the Governor’s office. If Lt. Governor Flanagan had become Governor, all the commissioner positions would have been automatically vacated, but since there is no change in Governor that is not that case. How the Governor’s policy priorities and legislative demeanor has changed after his time in the national spotlight is also something being closely watched by lawmakers and lobbyists alike. 

The DFL was able to pass sweeping changes to state spending and policy over the previous two-year period while they held majorities in the House, Senate and Governor’s office, but that dynamic will be significantly altered for the upcoming legislative session, which is set to begin on January 14, 2025.

Want more? Check out the December 2024 issue of AASP-MN News!