Minnesota’s politics are hands down the most crazy in the nation. One month ago, the MNGOP failed to win back the Minnesota House and Senate from the Democrats. But as of today, the Minnesota House will have a Republican majority for a short period due to election cheating AND the Minnesota Senate will be a 33 to 33 tie going into the new legislative session.
Let me explain…
First off, the Republicans won three seat backs in the November election, which gave them a 67 to 67 tie in the Minnesota House. This is the first time in over three decades that the Minnesota House had a tie.
One of the small election victories for Democrats was in House District 54A, located in Scott County. As we reported earlier, Democrat Brad Tabke won by 14 votes, however, it was discovered that at least 20 ballots were thrown in the trash by an election worker in Shakopee. The case is currently waiting for a decision in the courts.
Another case that was in front of the courts was in a reliably safe Democrat district, House District 40B (Roseville). However, the Democrat in the district cheated and ran for the seat despite not actually establishing residency in the district 6 months prior to the election, as required by law. A Ramsey County court just ruled against carpetbagger Curtis Johnson, which means when the legislature convenes on January 14th, 2025, there will be a vacant seat in the legislature and the Republicans will temporarily have a 67 to 66 Majority.
State statute says that the Governor is supposed to issue a writ for a special election “22 days after the first day of the legislative session.” That means, with the timeline of special elections in law, Democrats won’t be able to win that seat back until some time in March, giving Republicans nearly two months of a governing majority in the Minnesota House.
But Governor Tim Walz issued a writ of special election last Friday, calling for an election on January 28th, 2025. Walz is completely ignoring the law according to MN Statute 204D.19 Subd.4:
Republicans are going to have to go back to court to STOP the Democrats election cheating!
If this dynamic at the Capitol isn’t already crazy enough, we’ve been discussing how the Minnesota Senate could become a 33 to 33 tie if Democrat Senator Nicole Mitchell is found guilty of felony burglary charges at her trial at the end of January. The evidence looks overwhelming that she committed the act. We believe she would be forced to resign at that point.
Although if Mitchell is out of office at the end of January, the Republicans will take a 33-32 majority after yesterday’s news. Long serving senator and former majority leader, Kari Dziedzic, passed away from a cancer she had been suffering from over the past year. As it stands right now, that seat will also be vacant, and Tim Walz will be calling for a special election soon to fill it.
And to make matters even crazier, the whole nation is aware that our governor is bruised and hurt (politically speaking) from sinking the Democrat presidential ticket and losing to Trump. But the Star Tribune recently alerted all of us to a growing rift between Tim Walz and his woke Lt Governor, Peggy Flanagan.
Things are going to be mighty rocky for the Democrats at the Capitol in the next several months. Stay tuned!
