Minnesota Democrats bring Supreme Court challenge to block Speaker election
Minnesota House Democrats are going to the state Supreme Court to overturn the election of the new Republican Speaker.
The Democrats walked out of the chamber on Tuesday in a dramatic attempt to block legislative business. Democrats have promised to keep boycotting until a special election this month that they expect to win.
The bitter power struggle is the result of a close fall election that initially split the House 67-67. Republicans gained a one-vote advantage after a judge ruled that one Democrat was not actually living in his district.
Meanwhile, Democrats have claimed victory in a contested election they won by just 14 votes. That's less than 20 ballots that were destroyed, but a judge ruled that Democrat Brad Tabke is the legal winner.
Dems try to block election
Republicans have left the door open to denying Tabke a seat in the legislature, which they potentially could do.
Despite the court's ruling in favor of Tabke, Minnesota law gives the House the power to "judge the election returns and eligibility of its own members."
Democrats walked out of the building Tuesday and the Secretary of State, a Democrat, declared the session adjourned. Republicans ignored the moves and elected Lisa Demuth as Speaker of the House.
The Republicans say they need only 67 members for a quorum, with only 133 members seated. But Democratic House leader Rep. Melissa Hortman said the party will challenge the legitimacy of the proceedings in front of the Supreme Court.
“What I expect is that the Minnesota Supreme Court would find that the Minnesota House was not duly organized today, that (those) who participated in the sham session violated Minnesota state law and ignored the constitutional requirement of quorum,” she said.
Power grab?
While Democrats have complained of an attempted coup, the GOP says Democrats are simply refusing to accept reality: there is no longer a tie in the chamber.
"It is no longer a tie — someone broke the law. The court ruled that he could not take office. I think my Democrat colleagues are frustrated with that reality," Demuth said.
The results of the special election on January 28 are expected to restore a 67-67 tie, which has led Democrats to accuse Republicans of a power grab while they enjoy a temporary majority.
But the seat Republicans are allegedly "stealing" was won by 14 votes, and 20 ballots went missing. If the election were done over, as seems appropriate, it's entirely possible Republicans would win, and the "tie" would evaporate.
While they accuse Republicans of undermining democracy, it's the Democrats who are doing everything they can to maintain a dubious balance of power.