The Minnesota Legislature just switched to Republican control after a member of the DFL Party, the state’s Democratic Party, did so found to be ineligible. A Ramsey County District Court judge ruled that Curtis Johnson’s primary residence was in a different legislative district, not House District 40B.
This means that the Republicans currently have a majority of one seat and are taking power from the Democrats for the first time since the 2017-2018 legislative period.
A Ramsey County District Court judge ruled Friday that DFL candidate Curtis Johnson did not meet the residency requirements to run for Minnesota House District 40B and declared him ineligible to take the oath of office.
On election night, Johnson defeated Republican challenger Paul Wikstrom by 31 percentage points; However, Wikstrom filed suit, claiming Johnson never lived in the district and established his primary residence in another legislative district in Little Canada.
DFL executives opposed the decision and said the case should be dismissed because residency issues needed to be resolved before an election.
“The court erred in law by not dismissing this case,” said current DFL House Speaker Melissa Hortman. “A question of residency must be resolved before an election and is not a proper basis for a campaign.” We will appeal to the Minnesota Supreme Court and expect the Supreme Court to dismiss the case. Republicans want to achieve in court what they couldn’t achieve at the ballot box. Curtis Johnson won District 40B with 7,503 votes, and no court should lightly overturn the will of the voters.”
That seems like a pretty crazy interpretation of the law. If that’s the case, candidates can lie about where they live and, as long as they’re caught after the election, they can still take office in a district where they do not live. Wouldn’t that be a problem?
However, this comment for the DFL shows how little regard the Democrats have for the law. Something similar happened in Pennsylvania. Despite the state’s clear legal requirements about which ballots should be counted or disqualified, Democrats have fought tooth and nail to override them. They had no viable argument. It was a purely emotional game that would have led to a general election campaign for mail-in ballots with little accountability. Luckily, the state Supreme Court stepped in and put an end to this move.
SEE: GOP scores large election integrity victory in Pennsylvania
Aside from that, how long will Republicans retain the majority in Minnesota? This is a somewhat complicated question. If this decision were made, an appeals court could overturn it. If that doesn’t happen, a fresh election will have to take place, and since the DFL candidate won by 31 points in the first round, it will certainly remain blue.
However, this is where things get intriguing. That’s not the only seat in contention. In another district, the Republican candidate lost by just 14 votes after a handful of mail-in ballots mysteriously “disappeared” and then, when found, were thrown away.
The Minnesota State House is tied 67-67 as Democrat Brad Tabke won re-election in District 54A with 14 votes. But Tabke only won because 20 mail-in ballots were mysteriously lost and then “accidentally” thrown away. Republicans are suing to force a fresh election. https://t.co/Ly1t0anPvn
— Izengabe (@Izengabe_) December 2, 2024
There is a very real chance that the courts could order a fresh election, meaning Republicans would hold a two-seat majority for some time and have a chance of winning an outright majority once the special election is complete. That verdict is expected soon, so we’ll have to wait and see how this all plays out.
