Local Lawmakers Speak on ‘Constitutional Crisis,’ ‘Unlawful Sham’
Democrats in the Minnesota House of Representatives made good on their threats to boycott the first day of the legislative session.
On Tuesday, Jan. 14, the entire DFL caucus was a no-show when the session started at noon.
Secretary of State Steve Simon presided over the session, adjourning it after roll call for lack of a quorum.
“There being 67 members, there is no quorum present as required by the Constitution of the state of Minnesota,” he said. “The House may not conduct any further business. The House of Representatives is adjourned.”
However, Republicans pushed forward with proceedings, electing one of their own, Rep. Lisa Demuth as House Speaker.
“The Minnesota people are counting on us today,” Demuth said. “Not for partisan victories or for political theater.”
One-Member Majority
Republicans currently have a one-member majority in the House with 67 members compared to the 66 DFLers.
However, neither party has the the absolute majority with 68 members.
A special election for the District 40B seat in the Roseville area could bring the House back to a 67-67 split.
The DFL candidate that won the seat in November was later ruled to not meet the state’s residency requirements.
Another seat at play was in the Shakopee area. It was won by DFLer Brad Tabke. Republicans have challenged his narrow 14-vote victory in court after election officials lost 20 absentee ballots.
According to a statement from Rep. Melissa Hortman (DFL-Brooklyn Park), a judge has ruled that Tabke’s win is legitimate, and there’s no basis for holding a special election.
However, Hortman says Republicans refused to seat Tabke.
“Given Republican statements this morning indicating their intent to ignore the election results and the court’s decision, Democrats have no other recourse to protect the will of the voters than to deny quorum until the special election in 40B has concluded and that new member is sworn in,” Hortman said. “Democrats are united in our will to fight Republican efforts to kick Representative Brad Tabke out of the Minnesota House. We cannot allow Republicans to engage in this unprecedented abuse of power, and will use every tool at our disposal to block it.”
Democrats in the Minnesota House of Representatives made good on their threats to boycott the first day of the legislative session.
Local Lawmakers Chime In
One of the Democrats missing from the House was Huldah Hiltsley.
The freshman Brooklyn Park lawmaker was sworn in early, and spent the first day of the session working from home.
“I pictured my first day being in the chambers with my family, the community, celebrating this very special moment,” she said. “I actually never thought that we would be where we are today.”
She said the Republican decision to move ahead with business is in essentially an attempt to disenfranchise voters.
“I want to remind everybody that, the November election, the people of Minnesota voted in full confidence in a tied House, 67-67,” she said. “We are doing everything we can to make sure that we honor the will of the people that elected us.”
In a written statement, Rep. Cedrick Frazier, DFL-New Hope, called the House GOP’s actions a “sham.”
“What Minnesotans witnessed today was a deliberate and appalling illegitimate power grab,” he said. “House GOP members would rather seize power in any way possible even if it means to defy State Constitution that govern our institution. Rather than entrusting and upholding the statues that govern this body it is clear; they would rather commit treasonous acts than uphold our democratic process. Even when GOP members were being sworn-in, under oath to uphold the State Constitution, they still violated.”
Meanwhile, Rep. Kristin Robbins, R-Maple Grove, said her party is in the right.
“The reality is, this is a Democrat-created Constitutional crisis,” she said. “They ran a candidate who didn’t live in the Roseville district, and the court refused to let him take the oath of office. So we have 133 members. And a quorum will 67 today … for now, for organizing, we are the majority, and we intend to exercise all the powers of a majority.”
Robbins, who was re-elected in November, said she hopes to see Democrats in the chamber soon.
“We have serious things that we need to address in the state of Minnesota that we need to work together on,” she said. “Anything that we work together on, because of the numbers in the House, because of the numbers in the Senate, will be bipartisan at the end of the day. So we just need to get to work together.”
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