ST. PAUL, Minn. — According to unofficial results from the secretary of state, the Minnesota House appears to be headed for a rare, evenly divided House, with Republicans and Democrats each holding 67 seats.
But that wouldn’t be unprecedented. In 1979 there was a similar political composition in the House of Representatives. Party leaders in the House will begin discussions about what a power-sharing deal would look like under these unique circumstances.
Close races toward automatic recount, leaders brace for power sharing
The a tied chamber would end the Democrats’ trifecta control of both the House of Representatives and the Senate and the office of the governor defined in St. Paul for the past two years. All 134 seats in the House were on the ballot this year, and Republicans needed a net gain of four seats to achieve a majority.
Ultimately, they were able to pick up seats in northern Mankato, Eveleth and Winona, flipping districts by hundreds of votes. But Democrats narrowly hold two seats — 14B in northeast St. Cloud and 54A in Shakopee — by 28 and 13 votes, respectively, the secretary of state said.
Both races are so close — the margins are less than half a percent — that they will head to a state-funded recount required by state law.
“It appears that when we tossed that coin, the penny landed on its side and we appear to be right,” DFL-Brooklyn Park President Melissa Hortman said during a news conference Wednesday.
Both she and House Minority Leader Lisa Demuth, R-Cold Spring, pledged bipartisanship. If the outcome remains true, they will have to work out a power-sharing agreement that will determine how the chamber will function. If there is a majority, that party gets the gavel and the members lead committees, where the legislation is refined and the public can comment on the proposals.
Democrats will still have their slim one-seat majority in the Senate after the DFL candidate triumphed in a Tuesday special election for a vacant seat in that chamber.
“This is our opportunity to work with Democrats across the aisle and find ways to best serve the people of Minnesota,” Demuth said Wednesday. “Minnesotans have been very clear that what they’ve experienced over the past two years, they wanted something different.”
The next term of lawmakers must craft a multibillion-dollar state budget over the next two years with funding for education, health and human services, transportation and more. Any tax cuts or credits will also be included in that plan.
While Democrats have been able to push through their spending proposals and policies with few obstacles over the past two years, they will be forced to work with Republicans again on bills to cross the finish line.
Divided government — a different party controlling each chamber or a governor from an opposing party — has been a common occurrence in Minnesota’s legislature in recent years.
But according to the Minnesota Legislative Reference Library, only once since 1900 has one chamber been evenly divided.
What did the 1979 power deal look like in the Minnesota House?
Leaders ultimately agreed to have an Independent Republican, as they were known from 1975 to 1995, as speaker, while DFL lawmakers chaired the powerful Appropriations, Rules and Tax committees, according to a document detailing that power structure from that time was described.
Hortman said Wednesday that there are examples of divided chambers in other states they can look at and characterized the 1979 power-sharing agreement as “a little bit archaic” that may not fit with today’s times.
“It’s the only precedent we have, so everyone is certainly looking at that, but I think if we look at some other states, we’ll see some configurations that might be more practical,” she said.
Demuth told reporters that she spoke only briefly with Hortman and did not share any details about what she would like a deal to look like, though she shared similar sentiments that a 1979 playbook might not work in 2024.
“A lot has changed in our world, so I can’t say directly what that power-sharing agreement would entail, but everything is on the table,” she said.
She said her group would choose a leader this week to lead these negotiations.
Former WCCO political reporter Pat Kessler, who covered the Legislature that year, recalled that the Legislature was functioning well after they signed that deal, until a tumultuous final few days in the capital that ended in chaos featured through bitter partisan fighting that emerged from an incumbent independent government. Republican lawmaker found guilty of violating campaign finance law.
“The committees functioned as they should, more Democratic votes than Republican, and the Republican Speaker more or less controlled the flow of legislation. So it worked fine for a while,” he recalls.
That’s akin to the chaotic end to the 2024 session, when Democrats in a last-minute effort folded their unfinished priorities into one big bill and passed it. before the expiry of the constitutional term. Republicans were outraged by the procedural move.
Kessler believes politics has become increasingly divisive in recent decades, which could affect how the chamber operates under a similar agreement.
“Coming out of the last session, when Republicans feel slighted because Democrats pushed through their entire progressive agenda without Republican votes, without Republican input, I think that does have an impact,” he said. “I don’t want to say that this hasn’t happened in other states where Republicans are in charge or with Republican trifectas, but I think there will still be some resentment that comes from that. It’s different.”
