Supreme Court rules Walz acted prematurely in calling special election in House District 40B

(KSTP) — Gov. Tim Walz acted prematurely in calling a special election in House District 40B, the Minnesota Supreme Court ruled on Friday.

The high court ruling means a special election scheduled for Jan. 28 will be canceled and Walz must issue a new writ of special election.

Republicans sued to have the Supreme Court intervene because in cases where a vacancy arises from a successful election contest, Minnesota law instructs the governor to call a special election after the legislative session begins.

A district court judge ruled on Dec. 20 that DFL candidate Curtis Johnson was ineligible for the District 40B seat because he did not live in the district. Johnson resigned his seat a week later, and Walz issued a writ of special election the same day.

Attorneys defending Walz’s decision to call a special election in December argued the election contest became “irrelevant” when Johnson resigned, but the court dismissed that claim.

It’s now unclear when a special election can occur, but it will almost certainly mean that Republicans’ one-seat advantage in the House of Representatives will last beyond Feb. 3, when the winner of the Jan. 28 special election would have been seated.

(ABC 6 News) — Rep. Duane Quam sent ABC 6 News the following statement from Rep. Lisa Demuth, who Republicans elected as speaker earlier in the week:

“State law is clear about the process and timeline for the Governor to call a special election. I’m pleased the court correctly ruled that the Governor failed to follow the law in his attempt to speed up the special election to help the political fortunes of the Democrat party. We want the residents of 40B to have representation as soon as possible and look forward to the Governor calling a special election pursuant to state law.”