‘Minnesota Miracle’ upended by new Republican House speaker

Over the last two years, Democrats used their governing trifecta in Minnesota to push through arguably the boldest progressive agenda — touted as the “Minnesota Miracle” — in the country. That’s about to change with a history-making new Republican House speaker.

Rep. Lisa Demuth will be both the first Republican woman to preside over the chamber and the first Black person of either party to wield the gavel in St. Paul. But the four-term lawmaker downplays the significance of those milestones.

Instead, she emphasizes the need to restore balance to the Legislature and rein in spending.

“We cannot continue to raise taxes on Minnesotans because they can't afford their lives at this point,” Demuth said. “Tax increases are off the table.”

Her ascension to the position comes after chaos ruled the Minnesota House for three weeks after the chamber convened for its 2025 session last month.

Republicans held a one-seat majority, but Democrats refused to show up at the Capitol due to simmering disputes over the outcome of two state House races.

That meant they didn’t have the required quorum to conduct business. So, after a moment of silence and the pledge of allegiance, the chamber was immediately adjourned for seven straight sessions.

The standoff finally ended with a power-sharing agreement between the two parties. Republicans will initially control committees and therefore the legislative agenda. But after a March 11 special election — which Democrats are almost certain to win, giving each party 67 seats — control will be pretty much evenly split, with Demuth likely to stay as Speaker.

Demuth points to combating fraud as another top priority, due to scandals that have sparked criticism of the administration of Democratic Gov. Tim Walz — Vice President Kamala Harris’ running mate in the 2024 election — most notably a $250 million scheme that siphoned money from a federally funded program to feed poor kids.

“There's been record fraud over the last six years with Gov. Walz at the helm of the state,” Demuth said. “There hasn't been any serious consideration given to stopping that fraud.”

(Walz issued an executive order in January creating a state fraud investigations unit and proposed legislation aimed at combating misuse of government funds.)

Demuth spoke with POLITICO one week after the power struggle in St. Paul ended.

This transcript has been edited for length and clarity. 

How are you feeling about the ability to work together with Democrats, given the tensions over the last month?

We acknowledge the absolute difference of viewpoint on both what happened and where we sit as a Legislature. Right now, we are at 67-66 with that one-seat advantage. But we know from the beginning that we're going to have to work together in a bipartisan fashion to move any bills off the House floor with at least 68 votes. So even though there's been the tension in the beginning, we recognize the need to work together. I believe we'll be able to do that, and that is what Minnesotans expect us to do.

If Democrats win the special election on March 11 — as is pretty widely expected — you'll be back to a 67-67 split. In that situation, you've agreed to have co-chairs of committees and equal partisan membership. Why do you think that approach can work?

I do believe the co-chair model within the committees will work well. Knowing that we need bipartisan support to really move bills forward, it's better that that work starts right in the committee process.

Now, the one exception is the fraud committee. That will — for the next two years — be under [a] Republican majority with a 5-3 split and a Republican chair. That will be the one difference because we've really prioritized acknowledging the fraud — not just looking at it but finding solutions to end it.

Why is that such a priority? Why is it important that Republicans will be able to lead that committee?

There's been record fraud over the last six years with Gov. Walz at the helm of the state. There hasn't been any serious consideration given to stopping that fraud. We know that there's over $610 million of proven fraud in the state of Minnesota, yet there's been no commissioners that have lost their jobs, and there's been no accountability and meaningful change to prevent it going forward.

Minnesotans are tired of funding fraud here in the state. They know their tax dollars are going out to fraud where it hasn't been stopped. With having a Republican chair at the helm of the committee, we're able to have the hearings as necessary and then potentially move policy through to stop that.

When you talk to people across the state, they can't believe it's been allowed to go on this long. And so I would say it's a Minnesotan priority to stop fraud here in our state.

Republicans won control of the House, at least temporarily, even though Gov. Walz was on the Democratic presidential ticket that won Minnesota by more than four percentage points. What do you attribute that success to in the House races?

Minnesotans watched what was taking place in our state over the last two years with full Democrat control. We know that we spent an $18 billion surplus and raised taxes and fees on every Minnesotan by another $10 billion. So just the fiscal spending [under] one-party control, [we] needed to make a change. And that's what voters said.

It's really important to recognize, though, that we [won] six GOP seats in which Kamala won on [the presidential] ticket in that area. So voters were really saying we need something different here at a state level.

You’re the first Republican woman to serve as speaker and the first Black person from either party to hold the post. How are you thinking about that achievement?

I know that I am the most qualified to be the speaker of the House for the next two years just based on merit. The fact that I am the first woman to hold the seat for the Republicans and then the first Black lawmaker to hold the seat for Democrats or Republicans is something that I acknowledge, but I definitely didn't lead on that.

To me, it's merit first. Are you the person that is most qualified to do the job? That is the priority.

Over the last two years, there wasn't a lot of bipartisan work at all. I dare to say almost none. I'm a different kind of leader than you've seen in the past, and that is not being disrespectful to any previous leaders. I am very collaborative, both within my party and as much as possible trying to find commonalities across the aisle, trying to find those things that we can find agreement on.

The first month of the Trump administration has been marked by efforts to massively reshape the federal government. How that ultimately plays out, especially with legal challenges, remains up in the air. But how are you thinking about how the changes in Washington affect your job?

Clearly Americans decided to send President Trump back for a second term. That was overwhelming. Both the popular and the electoral votes proved that. People are looking for change. Knowing that there’s going to be changes as far as wasteful spending, that is a positive thing. Knowing that there is a positive movement toward more safety and cracking down on criminal activity — that’s a good thing.

Right now I am completely focused, though, on the work that we’re doing here in Minnesota. Knowing that we have a four-week delay in our session because of Democrats not showing up for work really puts the pressure on us to get our work done. We are really focusing here on the state and what we can do and control and move forward in the best way for Minnesotans.

This is a budget year. Minnesota is looking at a projected $5 billion deficit in the '28-'29 biennium. Given those challenges that loom on the horizon, how are you thinking about this budgeting cycle and your approach as leader of the House?

This budgeting cycle needs to recognize the fact that we do have that deficit that is looming over our state. Again, [we’re] coming off of a record surplus of $18 billion and record spending and growing the budget by another $10 billion.

We have been saying for the last two years as House Republicans in the minority, “This is not sustainable. We are headed for a path that is going to put our state in jeopardy.” Yet those cautions were completely cast aside and not taken seriously. We're now living in that reality.

This is the time to start making wise decisions. We're not going to just cut across the board, but we have to get rid of the waste that is found in fraud. We have to take a look at everything almost line by line and make wise spending decisions.

We cannot continue to raise taxes on Minnesotans because they can't afford their lives at this point. Tax increases are off the table.