The Minnesota legislature just flipped to Republican control after a DFL party member, which is the state’s Democratic Party, was found ineligible. A Ramsey County District Court judge ruled that Curtis Johnson held his primary residence in another legislative district and not in House District 40B.
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That gives Republicans a one-seat majority for the time being, taking power from Democrats for the first time since the 2017-2018 legislature.
A Ramsey County District Court judge ruled Friday that DFL candidate Curtis Johnson did not meet residency requirements to run for Minnesota House District 40B, declaring him ineligible to take the oath of office.
Johnson defeated Republican challenger Paul Wikstrom by 31 percentage points on Election Night; however, Wikstrom filed suit claiming Johnson never lived in the district and made his primary residence in another legislative district in Little Canada.
DFL leaders decried the decision, claiming the case should be dismissed because matters of residency should be worked out prior to an election.
“The court erred as a matter of law in not dismissing this case,” said current DFL House Speaker Melissa Hortman. “A residency issue must be resolved before an election and is not an appropriate basis for an election contest. We will appeal to the Minnesota Supreme Court, and expect the Supreme Court will dismiss the case. The Republicans are seeking to do in court what they were unable to do at the ballot box. Curtis Johnson won District 40B by 7,503 votes, and no court should lightly overturn the will of the voters.”
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That seems like a rather insane interpretation of the law. If that’s the case, then candidates can lie about their residency, and as long as they aren’t caught until after the election, they can still take office in a district they don’t live in. Wouldn’t that be a problem?
That comment for the DFL does show just how little regard Democrats have for the law, though. We saw the same type of things occur in Pennsylvania. Despite the state’s clear legal requirements for which ballots are counted or disqualified, Democrats fought tooth and nail to override them. They had no viable argument. It was a purely emotional play that would have created a free-for-all for mail-in ballots with little accountability. Thankfully, the state’s Supreme Court stepped in and put an end to their gambit.
SEE: GOP Gets Big Election Integrity Win in Pennsylvania
That aside, how long will Republicans hold onto the majority in Minnesota? That’s a bit of a complicated question. In the case of this decision, an appeals court could overturn it. If that doesn’t happen, then another election will have to be held, and given the DFL candidate won by 31 points the first go around, it will assuredly stay blue.
Here’s where things get interesting, though. That’s not the only seat being contested. There’s another district in which the Republican candidate lost by just 14 votes after a handful of absentee ballots mysteriously “went missing” and then when found, were thrown away.
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The Minnesota State House is tied 67-67 thanks to Democrat Brad Tabke winning re-election in District 54A by 14 votes. But Tabke only won because 20 absentee ballots mysteriously went missing & were then “accidentally” thrown out. Republicans are suing to force a new election. https://t.co/Ly1t0anPvn
— Izengabe (@Izengabe_) December 2, 2024
There’s a very real chance the courts could order a new election, meaning Republicans would hold a two-seat majority for some time with the chance to win an outright majority once the special elections are done. That ruling is expected soon so we’ll have to see how this all plays out.
