Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon and House Democrats have asked the state's highest court to intervene in a partisan power struggle that has roiled the start of the 2025 legislative session. Simon,

A one-seat Republican majority in the Statehouse and a looming special election made for a tense start to a new era of divided government.

Negotiations between House DFL and GOP leaders failed to reach a deal before the Legislature convened at noon Tuesday.

In a petition to the Minnesota Supreme Court, Democrats in the state House accuse Republicans of acting "unlawfully" when they conducted House business on Tuesday, including electing a speaker, with no DFL members present.

Minnesota's House Democrats boycotted the opening session of 2025 to prevent Republicans from using a temporary majority to elect a speaker.

Following the contentious first day of the 2025 Minnesota Legislative session, where members of the DFL failed to show, partisan tensions are rising as lawmakers claim House Republicans attempted to select a speaker.

In their lawsuit, House Democrats say Republicans unlawfully organized and elected a speaker on the legislative session's opening day.

Minnesota’s Democratic state representatives walked out Tuesday, failing to show up for the first day of the legislative session to deny the state House a quorum amid a fight over how to manage a chamber that's set to be equally divided.

The new legislative session is off to a rocky start at the Minnesota State Capitol. Half of the Minnesota House sat empty Tuesday afternoon as Democrats and Republicans accused each other of illegitimate power grabs.

Democrats followed through on their promise to no-show on the first day of Minnesota's legislative session, they said, to “protect the will of the voters.”