In the 2006 Minnesota general election, Republican Gov. Tim Pawlenty defeated Democratic Attorney General Mike Hatch, 46.6%- 45.7%, with third parties taking the rest of the vote. The Minnesota GOP hasn’t won a statewide race since, even in otherwise bad years for Democrats. Still, by the numbers, Minnesota is purple rather than dark blue: A competent and slightly more moderate GOP could find itself competitive. But that would require belief in democracy. Alternatively, Minnesota Republicans could stage a coup. Though the state voted for an evenly split Minnesota House, GOP legislators have unilaterally decided that for now, they run the state Legislature’s lower chamber.
The word “coup” might seem like hyperbole. But I use it because we need to perceive the connections among violations of democracy around the country. Just in North Carolina, for example, unaccountable judges are considering tossing out election results they don’t like and lame duck legislators used a supermajority to pre-emptively strip powers from their successors. And of course, we are only a few years removed from the incitement of a mob to attack the U.S. Capitol. It’s all part of the same pattern.
The return of the split state House is imminent. Republicans, though, have decided that they can just pretend otherwise.
The 2024 elections saw the Minnesota House split 67-67 between the GOP and the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party (the DFL, as we call Democrats around here) for the first time in almost 50 years. At first, lawmakers quickly reached a power-sharing arrangement for organizing the divided legislative body, similar to the last time the chamber was evenly divided. But then the shenanigans began. They started with a Republican candidate suing to invalidate one of the results, arguing that his DFL opponent didn’t actually live in his apartment in the area. Even though it’s not clear that it’s legal to challenge residency post-election, a judge disqualified the DFL candidate last month, giving the GOP a temporary 67-66 majority.
Given that Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz already scheduled a special election for the seat for the end of January, in a district the DFL candidate won by more than 30 points, the return of the split state House is imminent. Republicans, though, have decided that they can just pretend otherwise. A one-vote margin for two weeks, the GOP claims, equals mandate to organize the chamber, elect a speaker and get down to business. And just for good measure, they have sued to block the fast-tracking of the special election.
It takes, by statute, 68 votes for a quorum and 68 votes to pass anything in the chamber. There’s no wiggle room here. When Democrats boycotted the opening session Tuesday, NBC News reported, “Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon, who controls the chamber’s gavel between sessions, adjourned the state House and said there was no quorum.” The state House, legally, could not act. Nevertheless, in a half-empty chamber, the 67 Republicans plowed ahead and elected state Rep. Lisa DeMuth as the speaker.
Temporary control of the chamber is even more salient because there is one other state House election that Republicans are contesting. In November, DFL candidate Brad Tabke won his race by 14 votes. The close margin triggered an automatic recount, during which election officials discovered that they had accidentally misplaced 20 ballots. Tabke’s Republican opponent sued for a special election. After a trial in which six voters whose ballots were lost testified that they had voted for Tabke, on Tuesday, a judge ruled that he had won the election. But the state House has ultimate authority over who is seated as a member and, as of Thursday, Republicans are still refusing to seat him.
Because Minnesota House Democrats have filed a lawsuit and the state still has an independent judiciary, hopefully it will be a short-lived stunt. Sooner rather than later, I expect the chamber to return to a 67-67 tie, which will be enormously frustrating for those of us who want our state government to get things done. But that’s OK. Sometimes democracy can be frustrating.
Whether you live in Minnesota or not, pay attention to this story.
I also understand why the Minnesota GOP wanted to press its short-term advantage but, of course, that isn’t a valid reason to violate the law and seize power the voters did not grant it. The rules governing the exercise of power in a representative democracy should not — must not — be Calvinball.
Whether you live in Minnesota or not, pay attention to this story. GOP coup attempts will continue to manifest in different ways whenever voters try to stop them from exercising minority rule. Even when Republicans have a lot of power, it often will not be enough, particularly when that power can be exploited for opportunities to just ignore the law whenever they want. Call these efforts what they are: illegitimate attempts to seize power in contravention of the law — or, more simply, coups.
