The Minnesota Supreme Court has tossed out more than two dozen Republican-led petitions attempting to recall House DFL members who boycotted the first weeks of the 2025 legislative session.
The decision released Monday dismissed 29 petitions against DFL members all at once, saying their actions didn’t meet a “serious malfeasance or nonfeasance” standard that’s needed to initiate a recall election.
Sixty-six Democrats boycotted the first weeks of the session to prevent Republicans from getting the 68 votes needed for a quorum in the chamber, which would have allowed them to take over the speakership and committees in the House.
The House returned to a 67-67 tie on Monday, but for weeks Republicans had a one-vote advantage in the chamber after a judge ruled DFLer Curtis Johnson didn’t live in the district he was elected to represent.
Republicans walked away from negotiations with DFLers after the Johnson ruling, triggering the power struggle between the two parties.
State Republican leaders initiated the recall petitions to put pressure on DFLers to return to the Capitol, alleging that their failure to show up “caused the House to be unable to transact business” and the members “failed to perform the basic requirements of \[their\] office.”
The party initially missed a self-imposed deadline to turn in the petitions to the Secretary of State’s Office due to misfiled paperwork. The secretary of state turned the petitions over to the Minnesota Supreme Court, which must determine if there are valid grounds for recall.
Democrats and Republicans eventually struck a deal to share power in the chamber and all members returned to the House floor on Feb. 6.