Minnesota Governor Tim Walz has called a special election to fill late Senator Kari Dziedzic's Minneapolis seat for Tuesday, January 28.
University of Minnesota Political Science Professor Larry Jacobs on the Governor's quick action.
"The DFL went from a trifecta to a no-fecta, they've lost the majority in the Minnesota House and with Senator Dziedzic's passing, they've also lost their majority in the Minnesota Senate," says Jacobs.
If a primary is necessary, it would be held on Tuesday, January 14. Those are the same special election dates for a Roseville House seat after a judge disqualified the winner for not living in the district. Candidates have until 5:00 p.m. Tuesday to file.
Remembering Dziedzic's fight with cancer
Former DFL Senate Majority Leader Kari Dziedzic is being remembered as a strong leader, who worked to help others going through cancer treatment, while she continued to do her duties in the legislature.
Dziedzic died over the weekend of ovarian cancer, a cancer that's often difficult to detect and treat.
Patty Patty Bartholomew is a survivor, and member of the board of the Minnesota Ovarian Cancer Alliance.
"I had no symptoms," says Bartholomew who shared her story with WCCO Radio host, and KSTP political reporter Tom Hauser, who filled in on the WCCO Morning News Monday.
"Up until when they diagnosed me, when I did finally have a symptom and I was stage 4, there was nothing to indicate that there was anything wrong with me," Bartholomew continues.
She says some women do experience some symptoms.
"The most common are bloating, abdominal bloating or pelvic or abdominal pain, trouble eating, feeling full quickly, or urinary symptoms," Bartholomew explained.
Part of the mission of the Minnesota Ovarian Cancer Alliance is to educate doctors not to dismiss these symptoms and instead take a closer look at what the patient is going through.
For Patty Bartholomew, living with ovarian cancer means learning to live with no hair.
"You can't even imagine what it's like to not have hair, and it's just not the hair on the top of your head," she says. "It's your eyebrows, it's your eyelashes. It's everything. Your hair is gone and you feel like there's a big neon sign pointing at your head going, 'look at me, I've got cancer.'"