Democrats retain Melissa Hortman seat, Minnesota House is tied

MPR News helps you turn down the noise and build shared understanding. Turn up your support for this public resource and keep trusted journalism accessible to all. 

Turn Up Your Support

The 2015 legislative session is a month underway, with new Republican control of the Minnesota House and a divided government with DFL control of the Minnesota Senate and a DFL Governor. Two lawmakers have each seen four decades of the ups and downs, being in the majority and the minority, and a session when the House was exactly tied. This hour you'll hear some reflections, and some advice, from the "Deans" of the Minnesota legislature, Representative Phyllis Kahn, a DFL-er from Minneapolis and Representative Lyndon Carlson, a DFL-er from the Minneapolis suburb of Crystal. Both were elected in 1972.

Representative Kahn was a PhD biophysicist and microbial geneticist when she came to the legislature, and Representative Carlson was a high school social studies teacher. Over the years they've chaired major finance committees. This session Lyndon Carlson is the DFL lead on the  Ways and Means committee and Phyllis Kahn is the leading DFL-er on the Legacy Funding Finance Committee. 

Former Republican House Speaker Steve Sviggum served nearly 30 years in the legislature himself. He's now a legislative fellow at the University of Minnesota Humphrey School, where he interviewed the legislature's longest serving members.

Politics and Government News

Shows

MPR News Presents

Two lawmakers have each seen four decades of the ups and downs, being in the majority and the minority, and a session when the House was exactly tied. This hour you'll hear some reflections, and some advice, from the "Deans" of the Minnesota legislature, Representative Phyllis Kahn, a DFL-er from Minneapolis and Representative Lyndon Carlson, a DFL-er from the Minneapolis suburb of Crystal. Both were elected in 1972. Representative Kahn was a PhD biophysicist and microbial geneticist when she came to the legislature, and Representative Carlson was a high school social studies teacher.  Former Republican House Speaker Steve Sviggum is a legislative fellow at the University of Minnesota Humphrey School, where he interviewed the legislature's longest serving members.

The Legislative Deans: Phyllis Kahn and Lyndon Carlson

Go Deeper.

Like this?