The Minnesota House of Representatives will return to a 67-67 tie after DFLer David Gottfried defeated Republican challenger Paul Wikstrom in Tuesday's special election in House District 40B. Gottfried captured just over 70% of the vote in the heavily DFL-leaning district outperforming the 65-35 win by the Democrats in November that was eventually thrown out because the candidate didn't live in the district which is required under Minnesota law.
House DFL Leader and Speaker Emerita Melissa Hortman (Brooklyn Park) talked Tuesday about what a split House could look like and believed both sides would be able to work together.
"So on any given day in politics, you might be against somebody on a certain issue or irritated with somebody about a certain thing," Hortman says. "But at the end of the day, you have to get the work done. So you have to make it work."
Under the terms of the power sharing deal, Republican Lisa Demuth (Cold Spring) will remain House speaker for the next two years.
Now the work begins and lawmakers must figure out a new two year budget making this session more complicated to get to the finish line.
Hortman noted that a power sharing agreement would remain in place that the DFL and GOP worked out even if there was a 67-67 tie in the House.
"Each of the committees will be co-chaired by a Republican and a Democrat, and they will have equal membership, Republicans and Democratsm," Hortman explained. "So in order to move, anything would need to bebipartisan."
That two-year budget needs to happen to avoid a government shutdown before the session ends in May. WCCO Radio political analyst Blois Olson tells Vineeta Sawkar on the Morning News that committees with co-chairs is a process that could be slowed despite such a crucial deadline.
"Co-chairs mean that they will share the gavel. So if a committee meets on Tuesdays and Thursdays on one day, you will get the gavel on the next day, I will get the gavel," says Olson. "The committee chairperson sets which bills get heard that day and sits in the chair's seat."
The need for bipartisan support during votes could make the budget making process even more difficult.
"If you do not have bipartisan support, a bill will not move out of committee," Olson said Wednesday. "And I'm gonna fast forward. How do you pass a budget if you don't have one single vote from the other side and you need 68 votes to pass a bill off the House floor?"
Gottfried will be sworn in next week getting the House back to it's normal 134. Democrats hold a one-seat majority in the Minnesota Senate.
Updated budget projections released last Thursday suggested difficult negotiations ahead. The projected surplus for the next two-year budget slipped to $456 million, while the projected deficit for the two years after that grew to $6 billion.
Gottfried said his win is a victory for the voters in his district, who haven’t been represented in the House since the session convened in January.
“The President is sowing chaos that is increasing the price of basic needs like food, energy, and healthcare,” Gottfried said in a statement. “It’s never been more urgent that we work together in Saint Paul to shield Minnesotans from the chaos, lower the cost of prescription drugs, and make a smart plan to protect our shared futures in Minnesota.”
Demuth said it was always going to be an uphill battle for a Republican to win in the district.
“While the House will return to a 67-67 tie after tonight, House Republican priorities remain unchanged: we will continue our effort to stop the fraud, protect Minnesotans from harmful tax increases, and work with our Democrat colleagues to pass a responsible and balanced budget,” Demuth said in a statement.
Ken Martin, a Minnesotan who chairs both the Democratic National Committee and the state party organization, congratulated Gottfried for what he called a “crucial” victory for the party.
Gottfried’s win comes on the heels of special election victories earlier this year in Virginia and Iowa, and it shows that Americans are already rejecting President Donald Trump, the DNC said in a statement.
“Since November’s election, Democrats continue to fight and win in communities across the country,” Martin said.