The Minnesota House of Representatives is the lower house of the Legislature of the U.S. state of Minnesota. There are 134 members, twice as many as the Minnesota Senate. Floor sessions are held in the north wing of the State Capitol in Saint Paul. Offices for members and staff, as well as most committee hearings, are located in the nearby State Office Building.
Established in 1858, the Minnesota House of Representatives has 134 members elected from single-member districts across the state. Representatives serve two-year terms without term limits, with all seats up for election every two years. The House is led by the Speaker, who is elected by members of the House, while political party leadership is governed by the Majority and Minority Leaders.
The Minnesota House of Representatives meets in the north wing of the State Capitol in Saint Paul. Member and staff offices, as well as most committee hearings, are in the nearby State Office Building.
History
The Minnesota House of Representatives was officially established on May 11, 1858, when Minnesota was admitted as the 32nd state in the Union. It replaced the Minnesota Territorial Legislature. It was formed alongside the Minnesota Senate to create the Minnesota State Legislature, the bicameral legislative body of the state.
In 1913, Minnesota legislators began to be elected on nonpartisan ballots. While campaigning and caucusing, legislators identified themselves as "Liberals" or "Conservatives." In 1973, a law change brought party designations back, beginning with the 1974 Minnesota House of Representatives election.[2]
After the Nineteenth Amendment was ratified in 1920, women were eligible for election to the legislature. In 1922, Mabeth Hurd Paige, Hannah Kempfer, Sue Metzger Dickey Hough, and Myrtle Cain were elected to the House of Representatives.[3] As of 2023, a record-high 54 women serve in the House.[4]
Elections
Each Senate district is divided in half and given the suffix A or B (for example, House district 32B is in Senate district 32). Members are elected to two-year terms.[5] Districts are redrawn after the decennial United States Census in time for the primary and general elections in years ending in 2. The most recent election was on November 8, 2022.
The 2023–24 Minnesota Legislature was sworn into office on January 3, 2023 with 70 DFL members and 64 Republican members.[10]
The effects of redistricting and a large number of retirements at the end of the previous session resulted in 39 races without an incumbent. 16 races went uncontested, all in noncompetitive districts. In the 2022 Minnesota House of Representatives elections, eight incumbents lost, with five Republicans and three DFLers failing to be reelected.[10]
The 2023-24 class of representatives has 47 newly elected members, or 35% of the total membership. Of those 47, 25 are Republican and 19 are DFL. Three former DFL members returned to the chamber for non-consecutive terms (Jeff Brand, Jerry Newton and Brad Tabke).[10]
On September 1, 2023, DFL Representative Ruth Richardson announced her resignation, effective immediately, from the House to focus on her role at Planned Parenthood.[11] In a special election held on December 5, DFL nominee Bianca Virnig won the seat by 17 points.[12]
On February 11, 2024, Republican Representative Kurt Daudt resigned.[13] In a special election held on March 19, 2024, Republican nominee Bryan Lawrence won the seat by 69 points.[14]
Joseph A. A. Burnquist, 19th governor of Minnesota (1915-1921); 20th lieutenant governor of Minnesota (1913-1915); 21st attorney general of Minnesota (1939-1955)
Arne Carlson, 37th governor of Minnesota (1991-1999); 14th auditor of Minnesota (1979-1991)
Gordon E. Cole, 2nd attorney general of Minnesota (1860-1866)
William J. Colvill, 3rd attorney general of Minnesota (1866-1888); Union colonel during the U.S. Civil War (1861-1863)
Keith Ellison, 30th attorney general of Minnesota (2019-present); U.S. representative from Minnesota's 5th district (2007-2019); deputy chair of the Democratic National Committee (2017-2018)
Tom Emmer, U.S. House of Representatives majority whip (2023-present); chair of the National Republican Congressional Committee (2019-2023); U.S. representative from Minnesota's 6th district (2015-present)
Arlen Erdahl, 18th secretary of state of Minnesota (1971-1975); U.S. representative from Minnesota's 1st district (1979-1983)
Brad Finstad, U.S. representative from Minnesota's 1st district (2022-present)
Peggy Flanagan, 50th lieutenant governor of Minnesota (2019-present)
John L. Gibbs, 14th lieutenant governor of Minnesota (1897-1899)
Ernest Lundeen, U.S. senator from Minnesota (1937-1940); U.S. representative from Minnesota's 3rd district (1917-1919); U.S. representative from Minnesota's general ticket Seat Eight district (1933-1935); U.S. representative from Minnesota's 3rd district (1935-1937)
Betty McCollum, U.S. representative from Minnesota's 4th district (2001-present)
James Wakefield, 9th lieutenant governor of Minnesota (1876-1880); U.S. representative from Minnesota's 2nd district (1883-1887)
William D. Washburn, U.S. senator from Minnesota (1889-1895); U.S. representative from Minnesota's 3rd district (1879-1883) and 4th district (1883-1885)
Thomas Wilson, U.S. representative from Minnesota's 1st district (1887-1889); Chief justice of the supreme court of Minnesota (1865-1869); associate justice of the supreme court of Minnesota (1864-1865)
William H. Yale, 6th lieutenant governor of Minnesota (1870-1874)
Edward T. Young 12th attorney general of Minnesota (1905-1909)
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