Democrat David Gottfried easily wins Minnesota House special election, restoring a 67-67 power split

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Voters in a Minnesota House district at the center of post-election drama over chamber control decisively chose Democrat David Gottfried on Tuesday, tying the House and ending a short-lived Republican majority. The Democratic victory will force the two parties to work together on a budget for the next two years.

Gottfried got about 70% of the vote to defeat Republican Paul Wikstrom, who also ran for the seat in November.

The special election in the heavily Democratic district in the northern St. Paul suburbs of Roseville and Shoreview was scheduled after a state court ruled that Democratic winner Curtis Johnson failed to meet residency requirements. That disrupted an expected 67-67 tie in the House and led to the collapse of a power-sharing agreement when Republicans tried to capitalize on their unexpected majority, prompting a three-week Democratic boycott of the chamber.

The parties reached a new power-sharing agreement in February that assumed Democrats would win the special election and restore the tie. Under the terms of the deal, Republican Lisa Demuth will remain House speaker for the next two years. Once Gottfried is sworn in, the two parties will have even strength on most committees, with cochairs who will take turns holding the gavel, except for an oversight committee that Republicans will control to investigate fraud in government programs.

Democrats hold a one-seat majority in the Minnesota Senate. Given the tie in the House, some degree of bipartisan cooperation will be required to get the 68 votes needed to pass the big budget measures to Democratic Gov. Tim Walz. Updated budget projections released last Thursday suggested difficult negotiations ahead. The projected surplus for the next two-year budget slipped to $456 million, while the projected deficit for the two years after that grew to $6 billion.

Gottfried's 40-point margin of victory exceeded Johnson’s 30-point win in November. Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris carried the district with 68% of the vote over President Donald Trump, the Republican nominee.

Gottfried said his win is a victory for the voters in his district, who haven’t been represented in the House since the session convened in January.

“The President is sowing chaos that is increasing the price of basic needs like food, energy, and healthcare,” Gottfried said in a statement. “It’s never been more urgent that we work together in Saint Paul to shield Minnesotans from the chaos, lower the cost of prescription drugs, and make a smart plan to protect our shared futures in Minnesota.”

House Democratic Caucus leader Melissa Hortman said Gottfried’s win confirms that they’ll be working under the power-sharing agreement they negotiated with House Republicans.

“Democrats have been ready to work in a bipartisan way for months,” Hortman said in a statement. “It’s time for our Republican colleagues to leave the partisan games behind and work with us to craft a budget for the people of Minnesota.”

Demuth said it was always going to be an uphill battle for a Republican to win in the district.

“While the House will return to a 67-67 tie after tonight, House Republican priorities remain unchanged: we will continue our effort to stop the fraud, protect Minnesotans from harmful tax increases, and work with our Democrat colleagues to pass a responsible and balanced budget,” Demuth said in a statement.

Ken Martin, a Minnesotan who chairs both the Democratic National Committee and the state party organization, congratulated Gottfried for what he called a “crucial” victory for the party.

Gottfried’s win comes on the heels of special election victories earlier this year in Virginia and Iowa, and it shows that Americans are already rejecting President Donald Trump, the DNC said in a statement.

“Since November’s election, Democrats continue to fight and win in communities across the country,” Martin said.