Minnesota Governor Tim Walz is announcing that Tuesday, September 16th will be the special election date to fill the House District 34B vacancy.
That's the seat now left vacated by the death of Speaker Emerita Melissa Hortman (DFL - Brooklyn Park).
Nominations for the seat will begin this coming Tuesday, July 15, and can be submitted for one week.
A special primary would happen August 12, if it's needed.
Hortman and her husband Mark, along with their dog Gilbert, were shot and killed during what prosecutors are calling a political assassination. State Senator John Hoffman (DFL - Champlin) and his wife Yvette were also shot by the suspect, Vance Boelter.
Authorities also reported Boelter targeted at least two other state lawmakers during the overnight hours of June 14.
Boelter is being held at Sherburne County's jail awaiting his next court date, which is not announced at this time. He faces both state and federal murder charges, attempted murder charges along with weapons charges.
Hortman, a previous Speaker of the House in Minnesota, served as Speaker Emerita in an equally divided legislature this year.
The House Speaker was Cold Spring Republican Lisa Demuth and negotiations continued into June as lawmakers struggled to get a compromised budget to the finish line with 67 Democrats and 67 Republicans. That obviously makes the 35B vacancy an important one to fill for the DFL.
WCCO Radio political analyst Blois Olson says he expects a "civil tone" to this race with candidates looking to carry on Hortman's legacy.
"I think the issues of the day will be about who can carry on her legacy, and who could possibly kind of represent what Democrats are trying to find as their new lane against the Trump administration," says Olson.
As far as Republican challengers go? It may not be a layup seat for Democrats notes Olson, who says political trends in the suburbs are still changing.
"This is a seat that Melissa Hartman had to run for three times," he says. "So when she finally got elected, it was a flip of a Republican seat to a Democratic seat, and that shows the way in which parts of the suburbs have shifted."