Session 2021: Setting the Political Landscape
Minnesota election results have now officially been certified, which confirms that the state will continue to be home to the only split legislature in the country. The DFL will remain in the majority in the House with a margin of 70-64 and the Republicans will hold their majority in the Senate.
However, since the election, things in the Senate have changed. Two Iron Range DFL members, Sen. Tom Bakk and Sen. David Tomassoni, have split from their caucus completely, and now identify as Independents. So, rather than a 34-33 split in the Senate that was determined by the election, there is now a 34-31-2 split.
Both Independent senators will be committee chairs for the upcoming biennium. It is unusual for members of a minority party to hold gavels. Sen. Bakk will chair the Capital Investment and Sen. Tomassoni will chair the Higher Education committee.
In the House, the caucus that split from the Republicans last biennium will continue to exist this biennium as well, and they have expanded. Previously, the New Republican Caucus contained four Republican legislators. Now, new member-elect Erik Mortensen (55A) will become the fifth member. In contrast to the Senate’s margin, New Republican Caucus members still identify as Republicans, so the House split remains at 70-64.
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