Minnesota House Democratic and GOP leaders reach power-sharing agreement to end partisan stalemate

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Democratic and Republican leaders of the Minnesota House reached a power-sharing agreement Wednesday night to end a three-week stalemate that the state’s chief justice said left the chamber “completely dysfunctional.”

Details of how the arrangement will work weren’t immediately released. A joint statement from the top GOP and Democratic leaders in the chamber said only that they had a deal “to organize the Minnesota House effective Thursday,” and that more information would be released Thursday morning.

Democrats had stayed away from the state Capitol since the 2025 legislative session opened Jan. 14. Republicans argued that only 67 — the number of GOP elected members in the chamber — were required for a quorum.

The Minnesota Supreme Court sided with Democrats, ruling Jan. 24 that 68 representatives must be present to conduct business under the state constitution, but left it up to lawmakers to figure out a way to end the standoff.

Democratic Secretary of State Steve Simon had gone to the House daily for the last several days to try to convene the chamber, but without a quorum, all he could do was declare an adjournment and return the next day. Under state law, the secretary of state is the presiding officer at the start of the House session until a speaker is elected.

The House GOP holds a 67-66 majority pending a special election to fill an empty seat that Democratic Gov. Tim Walz on Wednesday set for March 11. That election, in a heavily Democratic district that includes the St. Paul suburb of Roseville, is expected to restore the 67-67 tie that both sides agreed came out of the November election.

While House Democrats had said they were willing to recognize that the GOP has a temporary majority, they had also said they wouldn’t return to the Capitol until Republicans promised not to refuse to seat Democratic Rep. Brad Tabke, of the Minneapolis suburb of Shakopee, where a judge ruled he won reelection by just 14 votes. It is a swing district, where the GOP would stand a good chance of winning a low-turnout special election.

The Supreme Court ruling effectively nullified all actions that House Republicans had attempted to take, including the election of their top leader, Lisa Demuth, of Cold Spring, as speaker.

In blocking a quorum, House Democrats used tactics that lawmakers around the country have tried at least two dozen times to thwart their opponents.

Meanwhile, the Minnesota Senate has returned to a 34-33 Democratic majority after three weeks of operating relatively smoothly under a power-sharing agreement. Democratic Sen. Doron Clark, of Minneapolis, was sworn in Monday after winning a special election to fill the seat of Sen. Kari Dziedzic, who died in December.

Steve Karnowski, The Associated Press