Balance of power on the line in Minnesota Senate with planned resignation of Nicole Mitchell
A guilty verdict for one state senator and the sudden death of another could reshape who's in charge in the Minnesota Senate.
On Monday, 75-year-old GOP Sen. Bruce Anderson died unexpectedly on the same day DFL Sen. Nicole Mitchell announced, through her attorney, that she would resign from office following a burglary conviction last week.
Democrats only have a one-seat majority in the chamber right now and losing Mitchell means that power is on the line. Special elections for those seats — the dates for which have not been set — come as there is another contest planned for September for the late Speaker Emerita Melissa Hortman's House district, after she was killed last month in a politically motivated attack.
Gov. Tim Walz told reporters Monday, before the news broke about Anderson's death, that the goal is to have special elections wrapped up before the next legislative session.
"The goal would be to do that as timely as possible, give people time to get a campaign together, run, and then have all of that done by February when we come back into session," Walz said.
Anderson's Wright County district leans heavily Republican. Mitchell won her race handily in 2022, defeating a Republican challenger by more than 17 percentage points. Her district covers Woodbury and parts of Maplewood.
But special elections have lower turnout than general elections.
Amy Koch, the former GOP Senate majority leader who herself won a special election, said Mitchell's race in particular will likely have outsized importance — and draw a lot of campaign spending — because of both the reason she resigned and how she represents the key vote for Democrats in the closely divided Senate.
"The spotlight that will be on Woodbury and how important Sen. Mitchell [is] and what she did is going to play into this election," Koch said. "All bets are off in a special. Unusual people can win specials. There can be upsets as a result of just sort of the nature of — it's fast, it's furious, and it's low turnout."
With Anderson's passing and Mitchell's resignation, the chamber will be at least temporarily at 33-32 in favor of Democrats. Most bills need 34 votes to pass.
Senate DFL Majority Leader Erin Murphy said in a statement following Mitchell's announcement that she would resign that "with the clarity brought by the resolution of this case, the Senate DFL Caucus will continue to focus on issues that improve the lives of Minnesota families and communities."
Two House Democrats — Rep. Ethan Cha and Rep. Amanda Hemmingsen-Jaeger — whose districts are part of Mitchell's Senate district, announced that they intend to run for her seat. If they prevail, there would be yet another special election for their House district.
All told, there will be at least six special elections this year alone.
There were three others during the legislative session, including for the districts of the late DFL Sen. Kari Dziedzic, who died of cancer, and former GOP Senator Justin Eichorn. He was arrested and criminally charged for allegedly soliciting a minor for prostitution.
