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With Tuesday’s election expected to produce a 67-67 tie in the Minnesota House of Representatives, DFL and GOP leaders said Wednesday they are looking now at ways to share power.

The Minnesota Constitution forbids the House from having two House speakers at the same time, so it’s possible Republicans and DFLers may divide up which party takes the speakership and which holds lead positions on key committees. 

“I think one really good thing about having a power sharing agreement is you wouldn’t have that kind of dynamic on the floor where one party lays down on the railroad tracks and another party feels like they have to go to extraordinary means to pass bills,” House Speaker Melissa Hortman told reporters.

While two seats in St. Cloud and Shakopee where DFL incumbents held their seats is headed to a state-required recount, Hortman and House Republican Leader Lisa Demuth say they’re working on the belief that the parties will operate with equal control.

“When we talked about balance, we wanted a little bit more than that, I will be fully honest with you,” Demuth, R-Cold Spring, said of her GOP colleagues who initially believed they’d won a clear majority on Tuesday. “This is the opportunity for us to work together with our colleagues, the Democrats across the aisle, and find ways to best serve Minnesotans.” 

The anticipated tie in the House effectively breaks up the DFL trifecta that has governed in St. Paul for the last two years. Democrats will retain a one seat majority in the state Senate as well as the governor’s office.

While circumstances in the House could force the two parties to work together, some relations may be more difficult to repair following the 

 to the last legislative session when  Democrats, who had full Capitol control, rolled a slate of spending-related bills into one package and moved to pass it within minutes and with little debate. 

Republican lawmakers said they’d been shut out of critical negotiations for the entire legislative session. Democrats accused Republicans of stalling bills they didn’t want passed.

Debates over budget bills stretched right up to the Legislature’s midnight deadline. Ultimately, lawmakers did not approve a substantial borrowing plan to pay for construction projects that needed a supermajority to pass. 

Next session, the parties will have to agree on a two-year budget, which will now require a bipartisan deal in the House that the DFL-controlled Senate and DFL Gov. Tim Walz will accept. Walz will return to his post as governor after his failed bid for vice president. 

Hortman and Demuth said no specific details of a power sharing agreement have been decided, as both caucuses first need to elect their leadership, which will happen later this week. Hortman, DFL-Brooklyn Park, said Democrats are looking at how other state legislatures managed power sharing.

For now, party leaders are working to find a balance.

“We flipped that coin,” Hortman joked Wednesday, “and the quarter landed on its side.”

Ellie Roth

Author

Dana Ferguson

Two House speakers at the same time isn’t an option, but DFL and GOP leaders said Wednesday they may divide up which party takes the speakership and which party holds lead positions on key committees. 

Expecting a tie in the Minnesota House, party leaders look to share power

Representatives sit at their desk in the House chambers

Expecting a tie in the Minnesota House, party leaders look to share power

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