Minnesota. Land of a thousand lakes. Land of tampon dispensers in boy’s bathrooms. Land of a suddenly—and thankfully--invisible Tim Walz. Land of hating police and siccing the DOJ on them. Land of a violent, drug-addicted, felonious martyr. Land of Democrats/socialists/communist (D/s/cs) ignoring state and federal constitutions and making it up as they go. And now, land facing a constitutional crisis, as John Hinderaker at Powerline reports:

Minnesota is a purple state, balanced on a knife’s edge, as the 2024 election showed. There are 134 Minnesota House districts, and when the returns were in, it looked like Republicans had gained enough seats so that the House would be tied, 67-67. But then it came to light that one of the Democrats’ candidates had cheated: in House District 40B, Democrat Curtis Johnson falsely claimed to reside in the district, a constitutional requirement. 

D/s/c hold super majorities in Minnesota’s House and Senate, and they have Tim Walz. Not only was Johnson caught, amazingly, a D/s/c infested and controlled state judiciary uncharacteristically upheld the law and barred Johnson from taking office, setting up a special election for a future time unknown.

So currently there are 133 elected representatives holding election certificates: 67 Republicans and 66 Democrats. Republicans hold a majority, brought about by the fact that Democrats cheated and got caught.

The legislature is due to convene on Tuesday, January 14 and D/s/cs plan to boycott, so horrified are they over Republican control of the House. They’re not going to show up, because they think that will deny a quorum, effectively shutting down the legislature until they can figure out some way to regain the majority. Their problem—among many—is Article IV, Section 13 of the state Constitution:

Quorum. A majority of each house constitutes a quorum to transact business, but a smaller number may adjourn from day to day and compel the attendance of absent members in the manner and under the penalties it may provide.

Clearly, “a majority of each house” means bodies, not districts, so 67 republicans constitute a majority, which under the Minnesota Constitution is a quorum. Not only does the text of the Constitution support this commonsense interpretation, so does its drafting history:

During Minnesota’s Constitutional Convention, the question of what constitutes a quorum came up. The consensus was that the language, as now contained in Article IV, was clear:

Mr. Morgan: I conceive that the word “majority” means a majority of the members sworn in. … There can be no other meaning attached to it, for we frequently find ourselves without a quorum, which is, less than a majority of the members sworn in.

Based on that consensus, an amendment to the existing language was voted down.

Minnesota’s Republican legislators have been given a rare opportunity to change the face of Minnesota politics:

Minnesota law provides that legislators may be recalled from office for misfeasance, malfeasance or nonfeasance. For a member of the legislature, deliberately not showing up for work is the ultimate nonfeasance, and trying to interfere with the ability of other legislators to do their jobs is malfeasance. Republicans are ready to file recall petitions against any Democrats who follow through on their threat to try to paralyze the legislature.

And in the meantime:

UPDATE: The Democrats are continuing to cheat, with an illegal “swearing in” ceremony on a Sunday afternoon before a retired Democratic Party judge:

Graphic: X Screenshot

When you violate a law in secret and subsequently proclaim that there is nothing to see here, you probably know you’re doing something wrong. That proposition bears on the illegal “swearing-in” ceremony conducted by the Democrats yesterday afternoon at the Minnesota History Center by senior judge Kevin Burke (pictured in the thumbnail on the home page). 

Graphic: X Screenshot

This is a blatant attempt to gaslight Minnesotans into thinking Republicans must “power share” with the D/s/c minority in the House. State Rep. Walter Hudson responded on X:

Graphic: X Screenshot

Thus do Minnesotans experience, on a smaller scale, the desperation of National D/s/cs to hold onto power at any cost. Ignoring the law and state Constitution come as easily to Minnesota D/s/cs as it does to their national cousins. Minnesotans will likely be spared the spectacle of assassination attempts as the impracticality of killing multiple Republicans should be obvious even to power-mad Minnesotans.

Hinderaker suggests these political ploys might finally convince Minnesotans D/s/cs are unworthy of their votes. I’m not so sure. As Scott Johnson observed in his update:  “…the Star Tribune is the house organ of the DFL…” The Strib’s sole article to date on these events is, as Johnson put it, “utterly unilluminating,” and the Minneapolis/St. Paul area is the tail that wags the Minnesota political dog. Changing enough votes there is essential to changing the political landscape, and D/s/cs tend to be unable and unwilling to admit error.

Still, thanks to Powerline and House Republicans, they have that opportunity. Who knows? Minnesota judges might even continue to uphold the law.

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Mike McDaniel is a USAF veteran, classically trained musician, Japanese and European fencer, life-long athlete, firearm instructor, retired police officer and high school and college English teacher. He is a published author and blogger. His home blog is Stately McDaniel Manor.