by Hank Long
The incoming lot of 66 DFL House members made good on their threat to boycott the first day of the 2025 legislative session on Tuesday.
And the 67 Republican House members who showed up to work equally made good on their promise to elect a new speaker.
State Rep. Lisa Demuth, R-Cold Spring, was named speaker of the House by her colleagues present in the Minnesota House of Representatives right around 1 p.m. She becomes the first African American elected to lead the chamber.
“The Minnesota people are counting on us today, not for partisan victories or for political theater, but for real results that improve their daily lives,” Demuth said shortly after she was sworn to lead the chamber for the next two years and then given the speaker’s gavel. “[Minnesotans] expect safer communities. They expect strong schools. Minnesotans deserve and expect economic opportunities and a government that works efficiently and effectively. They expect us to listen and to collaborate and to deliver.”
Demuth’s address came just moments after DFL Secretary of State Steve Simon presided over the opening moments of the new session and then declared the legislative day adjourned, saying a quorum was not present.
Later in the afternoon, Democrats held a press conference away from the Capitol where they called Demuth’s election as speaker “an attempted coup.”
That’s been the sticking point between Republicans and Democrats in the House over the last several weeks. Republicans say that a judge’s ruling last month that Curtis Johnson was not eligible to represent House District 40B gives them a quorum. They say that the seat Johnson was ruled ineligible to represent is vacant and means 67 is all that is needed for a quorum. But House DFLers and Simon have contended that 68 members need to be present in the chamber to constitute a quorum, even if one or more seats is vacant.
Simon left the chamber, Republicans declared quorum
At the outset of Tuesday’s floor session, the House sergeant-at-arms called Simon, a three-term Democrat, to preside over the chamber, which is called for in statute at the outset of a new session. Simon briefly addressed the 67 members-elect who were present, taking a moment to thank them for their service, even as the DFL-half of the chamber was noticeably empty.
Chief Judge of Appeals Jennifer Frisch administered the oath of office to those members who remained in their assigned places on the House floor. Simon then—as he had promised he would do last week—administered a roll call and declared that the 67 members in the chamber did not constitute a quorum. He then proceeded to pound his gavel and declared the day’s floor session adjourned.
Republicans quickly objected to Simon’s adjournment as he left the chamber, and found his declaration was out of order.
“Mr. Secretary, the House is not adjourned,” State Rep. Harry Niska, R-Ramsey, said as he made a motion to object to Simon’s declaration that there was no quorum. “You do not have authority over the House of Representatives. Minnesota law requires the members of the House of Representatives to meet at noon on Tuesday in the House chamber. As you can see, the DFL Caucus has violated the law for the express purpose of preventing the House from organizing and beginning its work.”
Simon left the chamber.
Those members present then voted to sustain the objection and appoint a new presiding officer, State Rep. Paul Anderson, R-Starbuck, via state statute 3.05, which calls for the oldest member present to preside over the chamber. Anderson then declared a quorum was present, and the Republican members went through the procedural steps to elect Demuth speaker of the House.
Democrats describe Demuth’s election as ‘an attempted coup’
Several DFL House members, none of whom were present at the Capitol on Tuesday, couldn’t help but voice their displeasure on social media.
“What Republicans are doing on the House floor right now is an unlawful sham with no legal authority,” communications staff for the House DFL caucus posted on social media following Demuth’s election as speaker. “Sec. of State Simon adjourned session after finding there was not a 68-member quorum required to conduct House business. Everything that has happened after adjournment is a sham.”
State Rep. Zack Stephenson, DFL-Coon Rapids, who won reelection in his north suburban district by less than 900 votes, shared on social media that “everything that happened after Sec. Simon adjourned the House is just political theater.”
Later in the afternoon, DFL House leadership held a press conference, away from the Capitol, where State Rep. Jamie Long described his Republican colleagues’ election of Demuth as speaker an “attempted coup.”
Despite that criticism, Republican members then carried on with the legislative calendar for the day, and conducted a meeting of the House Rules Committee following the floor session.
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Hank Long is a journalism and communications professional whose writing career includes coverage of the Minnesota legislature, city and county governments and the commercial real estate industry. Photo by Hank Long.
