Will Minnesotans find out Monday when a special election will be called for an open seat in Roseville? That seat is open because the winner was ineligible to hold the office because he did not meet residency requirements for the district. Initially won by a significant margin by the DFL candidate, it will likely stay blue.
But in the meantime, it's created chaos in the House where Democrats and Republicans can't get together on an agreement to share power. Currently, it's 67-66 in favor of the GOP while they wait for the special election.
Governor Minnesota Governor Tim Walz set a date of January 28, but a judge ruled that it was too soon. Under law, the governor has to wait 22 days from when the session starts to call another election.
"The Republicans have cards to play, they're playing crafty," says University of Minnesota Political Science Professor Larry Jacobs. "The Democrats are also uncertain how they're going to play their hand. So, it continues to be a very unsettled situation."
Republicans began the session without Democrats, who were boycotting while trying to negotiate a power sharing agreement despite the one-seat disadvantage, at least for now. But the Minnesota Supreme Court ruled that there wasn't a quorum present. 68 representatives are needed to qualify under state law, and Republicans only had 67 at the time without the Dems. So much of the work that's been done will likely just be nullified.
It comes down to trust. Democrats want guarantees that a member who won in Shakopee, Brad Tabke, will be seated before they come back to the chamber. But that hasn't happened yet.
"This is extraordinary. This may go down as one of the strangest and most chaotic house sessions that we've seen in Minnesota history," Jacob says.
So, will anything happen between now and when the special election will take place, likely in March?
While House Leaders Lisa Demuth (R- Cold Spring) and Melissa Hortman (DFL- Brooklyn Park) continue to talk about how they'll share (or not share) power, KSTP-TV political reporter Tom Hauser told WCCO's Chad Hartman he doesn't see an end in sight to this standoff.
"I don't know that this thing is going to be solved this week, and if it's not, you get into next week, you're going to be talking about the beginning of week four of the legislative session with nothing happening," Hauser explains. "Everybody's getting paid including the Democrats who are not even stepping foot in the Capitol."