The Minnesota Republican Party filed a petition Monday to the Minnesota Supreme Court arguing that Gov. Tim Walz unlawfully called for a special election to fill a Roseville House seat.
Walz called a special election Dec. 27 following a decision from a Ramsey County judge disqualifying Curtis Johnson, a DFL candidate for the House 40B seat, from office over residency issues.
The Republican party’s petition aims to halt the Jan. 28 special election and argues that under state law Walz should have waited 22 days after the start of the legislative session to issue a writ, leaving five days for candidates to file.
“State law requires the governor to call a special election as soon as possible,” a representative from Walz’s office told Forum News Service. “Rep. Jamie Becker-Finn’s term ends today, and there is no one to take her place. Republicans are trying to use the courts to prevent Democratic legislators from being seated.”
Walz’s office cited a separate state statute that says a special election must be called as soon as possible. James Dickey, attorney with Upper Midwest Law Center, which filed alongside the state GOP, said that statute does not apply in this case because it refers to a special election when a Legislature is in session, not a special election caused by an election contest lawsuit.
“The Republican Party is all about the rule of law, and if the law is clear about what should or shouldn’t be done, far be it from us to shy away from that,” Minnesota GOP Chairman Alex Plechash said at a Monday press conference. “The Republican Party itself is all about the rule of law. If we didn’t think there was a law being broken here, or that the governor wasn’t following the statutes, we wouldn’t be here standing today.”
While the Roseville seat likely will be filled by a Democrat after a special election given Johnson’s win in November more than 30% of the vote, the timing of the election will determine how long House Republicans can operate with a majority of 67-66 in the House.
Dickey said the lawsuit could help to speed up how quickly the vacancy is filled.
“You don’t want to have a situation where the election was, it was called based on an invalid writ, and then someone comes to the court after the election and creates havoc, right?” Dickey said. “So this, this petition being brought before as soon as possible is avoiding the catastrophe potentially caused by Gov. Walz issuing this writ and delaying things even further and having further chaos and antipathy in the House of Representatives. So, it’s important that we get the law right at the beginning.”
Currently, Johnson’s GOP challenger in the November election — Paul Wikstrom — is running for the Roseville House seat as is DFLer David Gottfried.
There also is a special election this month to fill the state Senate seat vacated after the death of Kari Dziedzic. Also in the mix is a contested House race in Shakopee that has gone to trial with a ruling yet to come.
The close margins for both parties come in a year when lawmakers have to put together a state budget.
A hearing before the Minnesota Supreme Court is scheduled for Jan. 15. The legislative session begins on Jan. 14.
Related Articles
Front-runners from Minnesota and Wisconsin emerge in the DNC leadership battle
Walz signs executive order, proposes legislative package to address fraud in public programs
Becker County prosecutor wants to keep word ‘senator’ out of Nicole Mitchell trial
Candidates file for Jan. 28 special elections with control of MN Senate, House at stake
Consent decree mandating Minneapolis police reforms expected after city, DOJ reach tentative deal
Leave a Reply